Sometimes, it doesn’t take much to brighten my day – and it can come in the most unexpected manner from a furry companion.
We have two cats that I love to pieces, when I don’t want to kill them for causing mass destruction around the house – a purebred Burmese girl who is two, and a purebred Tonkinese boy who is one (before you think we’re crazy cat people, we do love dogs, but given our lifestyle and small apartment, having one unfortunately just isn’t practical right now). These two cat breeds are known for their amazing personalities and dog-like tendencies: they will play fetch, carry on conversations, snuggle and give you lots of love while demanding love in return. Although my husband and I are convinced they are secretly plotting our demise, they really are a joy.
When we brought the boy home about a year ago, a strange maternal instinct kicked in for the girl. All of a sudden, her toys were no longer toys but her “kill” / dead prey. She now holds a toy in her mouth and follows the boy around, meowing as loudly as she can muster, wanting him to accept the toy from her mouth and “feed on it”. As he walks away and tries to ignore her, the meowing gets louder and more aggressive – you can hear the urgency, the “take it! now! do as I say!” desperation in her voice. The toys regularly end up in their food bowls and in our bed – I assume as a “gift” to us (thank goodness she is an indoor cat).
"Obviously, this nasty tiger tail toy is a sign of my love for you."
Over the past few weeks, for whatever reason, the girl cat has wanted nothing to do with me and has been all over my husband. While her moods certainly come and go (she is, after all, a. female, and b. a cat), I commented to my husband that I was sad that she didn’t love me anymore. He reassured me that it was just a phase, but did acknowledge that I appeared to be out of favor with her.
Just as I was about to turn out the bedside light and go to sleep, up jumped the girl cat on my husband’s side of the bed, her tiger tail toy in her mouth. And wouldn’t you know, she proceeded to walk right on over my husband, came over to my side of the bed, dropped her toy in my lap, snuggled up with me and went to sleep. She remained there all night.
Apparently all is forgiven, and I slept better than I had in weeks. It was a good morning, indeed.
Laura,
I so much enjoyed this posting. We also have cats – or should I say they have us? (You know what I mean by that.) At least, we did have cats. Our old boy died this past spring and the young cat – a Flamepoint – is still searching the house for him.
What I thought you were spot-on about was how far a little love goes. . .and how these animals fill our lives with it. Aren’t we lucky in that?
Have a good week and I look forward to your next posting.
All best,
Anne