September 12, 2024

Purrgrammer Life with Patrick, Jim, and Porky Belly

Meet Patrick and his two cats.

Studies show that cats and programmers share a special bond. Just like managing code, herding cats is no easy task. Patrick, an SF-based software engineer, knows this better than anyone. His two cats, Jim and Porky Belly (yes, that’s really his name), are more like his co-conspirators. They don’t help him with code, but they sure offer judgmental stares when things go wrong and purrs when he’s deep in work. We asked Patrick to talk about life with his two furballs, who always seem to be up to something more interesting than your average bug fix.

A little bit about me

Hi, my name is Patrick, I’m 28 years old and live in San Francisco with my two cats, Jim and Porky Belly. I’m a software engineer, and my main hobbies are playing sports like basketball and golf, going to the gym, and playing with my cats :) I created accounts when I first got my cats in December 2023 and started creating content consistently in the Spring. I mostly started because I liked seeing pet content online, and I wanted to have the same bonding experiences with my cats. And then I figured, why not post it online?

My personal plan: I have a couple of trips abroad planned for the next few months, I’m joining a new community service group, and I’d like to get better at golf and look for a new job.

My plan with the cats: I want to get my cats more accustomed to going outside, going on car rides, and to other furry friends!

Jim and Porky Belly

Jim and Porky are both sweethearts but have very different personalities! Porky is more cat-cat: He has a cool and chill personality and isn’t huge on personal touch, although there are times he comes to you for back scratches. He’s clingy but not cuddly, so he likes to sit 3 feet away from you. Jim is more of a dog-cat… he likes to cuddle and seems to be always starving for food (he lets you know). He is definitely derpier, and also very chill and likes physical touch, it’s easy to brush his teeth and cut his nails.

Tips for anyone who wants to train their cats: Start early!! If you have kittens, that’s the best time to train them and get them used to certain behaviors. But the best tip is to be patient! Some cats aren’t easily trained, even though we started really early with Porky, it’s still a struggle to cut his nails, for example.

About making content

I really like vlog-type videos with chill music that just show the cats doing their daily life. It’s very relaxing to me, haha.

” Make content you enjoy the process of making! There’s such a wide variety of things you can do; don’t just do what’s trendy because you’ll get burnt out eventually. It took me a while to figure that out.

Thoughts on Furrend

I’ve liked how Furrend already feels like a tight-knit community, and I really enjoy seeing only animal content!

Thanks to Patrick for sharing Jim and Porky's story with us. You can catch them on Instagram.

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