We aren't "cat" people. We have always been "dog" people. We like to think that we understand the inner workings of the dog brain. We are simpatico with the dog. Cats on the other hand have always been mysterious to us, perplexing and downright scary at times. So why then did we get a cat? What possessed us to desert the realm of dogs for a cat. Don't get me wrong, we love animals and getting our cat was a conscious decision based on research and the desire to have a sweet furry creature in the house again. One who would require less attention and work than a dog. We decided to get our cat with our furnishings in mind (well not really but it was handy that it worked out that way)...she sort of blends in with her surroundings which brings me to the next conundrum. We can't always see her in a room because she is like one with the room. For example, we walk into the kitchen, focusing on making breakfast, mostly looking down at the counters, stove etc., and then we hear it. meow. soflty spoken and tentative. meow. there it is again! Where is she? We look in the dining room, on the chairs, in her favorite chair...meow...a little louder this time. Is she in the pantry with the door closed. This has happened before. meow! We finally look up and this is what we see...
That's a long way up there kitty girl! And furthermore how did she get up there. And now she seems disinclined to want to come down...besides the fact that it looks as if she would be crippled for life if she even tried. So, the Mr. fetches the ladder from the garage and makes a daring and successful rescue. Bibi is unimpressed with it all and ungraciously gives a paw swipe and and angry meow as she is set gently and safely on the floor. "What was that all about", the Mr. and I exclaim to each other kind of hurt that there wasn't even a smidgen of gratitude in her attitude. Clearly we do not understand cats.
She has her happy place...a little square of a blankie that sits on the floor in the family room like a little island, smack in the middle of things, we call it her happy place because we sprinkle some cat nip on it and there she sits in a hazy cat nip fog occasionally swiping out at a random leg as it passes by because really, we are in her way. She is in fact sitting there as I write this.
She runs madly around the house at midnight as if the demons are after her. She steals things off my sewing table downstairs, especially anything with a wooden handle, and hides them. I think she is trying to steal my breath early in the morning, I can't be sure but I wake up to a slight whiff of 'tuna and small white fish' as her tail disappears over the side of the bed.
She likes to enact NCIS crime scenes.
It is disconcerting to both the Mr. and I to be in a room where we think she is not to find that she has been sitting statue still for like 10 minutes and observing us, unblinkingly (how do they do that) thinking her little cat thoughts. Are we her test subjects? Is she wondering what the heck we were thinking when we got her? These people don't know a thing about me and yet they invite me into their home, mwahahah! They are mine, all mine now!
It has been 2 months now and we are still baffled by her...as she is of us. We are learning to cohabit peacefully and with kindness and understanding. Most of the time. Just when I think she likes me I get swiped and gently nipped on the hand. With feelings hurt I slink away muttering unkind words under my breath. But like a dog I go back for more because I just know she is going to like me...mutter, mutter mutter.
