While I like Dogs

I prefer cats…

I was doing my exercises this morning when I looked under the tree and noticed a still wrapped fortune cookie. The cookie was from yesterday’s chinese meal.

After the meal the cat was running around chasing something. It took a moment or two to realize she was chasing a fortune cookie, until a moment later she wasn’t and the question was where did the fortune cookie go? The answer was, under the Christmas tree.

My cat is over 10 years old. But she still has brief moments when she entertains us like a kitten. Mostly she goes between the screened in porch and the bed and sleeps. She has no claws so she doesn’t go outside.

She is a rescue cat, kitten…

A little over a year before my wife passed away, she left home on a Saturday morning in search of a cat. At the time she did not want my company, she wanted to pick out her cat without my assistance.

When she returned she announced that she had picked a cat, but wanted to wait a week to make certain she really wanted a cat.

We went back a week later to get a cat…

To bring the cat home, we went to the shelter together. The cats were under quarantine, due to an outbreak of worms. No cats were going home that day and we couldn’t ever see our future housemate.

Each Saturday we returned to the shelter for about 6 weeks with the same result. Finally we saw our little gray fur ball. She was tiny and cute and also very stand offish. A condition we figured she would get over with food and time.

She came home with us…

The history we were provided…

Our new house mate had lived a hard life so far. As a young kitten she was abandoned next to a road. She was barely ready to leave her mother and she had maggots.

The shelter took care of her shots, got her cleaned up, neutered and found a home for her. The first owner was upset that she clawed the furniture. The owners solution was to remove the cats claws. This operation soon turned into a liter box issue when her claws became infected from the liter.

Her first adopted family returned her to the shelter…

The First Year in our home.

She was stand offish the entire year. Once in a while, she would get into bed and permit us to pet her. For the most part she would position herself, so she could see both of us and not be touched by either of us. Our only responsibility was to provide her entertainment.

We tried toys and these would provide some humor, but briefly and then she would lose interest. One of her few delights were to play a form a catch. Sometimes I would knock a ball between her feet. She often would send it back to me. This has continued to this day. Still attention span is short.

As my wife got sick and became chair bound, the cat finally would come and sit with her. My wife was having difficulty breathing, the cat was no longer welcome.

My sister-in-law came to help with my wife’s care most of the last two months she was alive. She decided it was her duty to get the cat to like her. The cat got to the point, she would come up and let my sister-in-law pet her. After which my sister-in-law announced that maybe the cat should come live with her.

My response was an immediate “The Cat Stays Here!” I was abrupt and emphatic. The topic of the cat moving did not come up again. To this day, I’m sorry that I was so abrupt, but glad I kept the cat.

And then my wife passed away…

Her services were closer to my sister-in-law. My mother dispatched my brother and sister to access my state of mind. They went back and said I was as good as expected.

When I got home and put my siblings back on the airplane to go to their homes. I finally got some quiet time in my house. It was a Sunday afternoon and football was on the TV. I laid down on the couch and the cat climbed up and lay down on my chest to be petted.

She announced, your my human now. Take care of me! It meant a lot to me.

My cat does not meow. She lectures.

Her noise is more a screech. I have heard often at meal times, she is so impatient. But of course, she needs to let her human know her needs. The worst lecture occurred when I lost her for a couple of days.

I thought she had gotten outside. Periodically, I thought I heard her, but couldn’t find her. I looked everywhere.

Finally, I gave up. Late that evening, I heard her, or at least I thought I did. I went to the back door, no cat. But again I heard her. Finally, I opened the hall closet, a door I never used and out bounced the cat. Her message was loud and clear. “Don’t close me in a closet again.”

I figured her greatest need was food and water, which I provided immediately. No, the lecture was more important and continued for several minutes. I had wronged my cat. What can I say? She was right.

I decided she needed to move to Florida with me…

The cat got the required physical and shots needed for interstate travel.

The lecture I would receive worried me. I purchased a dog carrying case so she would have some room to roam and I planned to leave the door open so she could roam around once we were on the road.

The car packed, the cat in the car and in her mini room, several stops to take care of last details. I got in the car and opened her carrying case. We were off and she didn’t disappoint. From Memphis, through Mississippi, to north Alabama the whole way I got my lecture.

She never left her room, she just lectured. I was her human, but I was a bad human… The night I stopped a a motel to rest. The cat made things easy I closed the case and brought her into the room. She got water and food and a liter box for the night.

The next morning I figured would be more of the same. I took her out in her carrying case and just before starting the car unlocked her door. We were off again.

She decided it was time to explore, shortly after we started out. She left the carrying case, walked over my lap down to the floor and hid under my seat.

I worried, each time we stopped I carefully opened the door hoping she would not bolt outside.

I thought she was exploring. The each stop proved differently, she just hid under the seat. This continued until we arrived at our new home.

Our new home…

I started unpacking, she continued to hide. The car was mostly unpacked by the time I could finally see her under the seat. I was able to pick her up and without returning her to the case, walk her into our new home. We made it safely.

Now would she like our new abode. She has settled in nicely. With the sliding doors partially open, she can go out into the screened porch area. She spends a lot of time there, basking in the sun and watching the little lizards and ducks parade on the other side. She has more entertainment.

For a while she stopped lecturing, but now she expects her meals on time. Lectures occur more often. She is home and I’m her human. I have to stay in line.