I'm a senior cat who lives with a silly girl. I know she loves me and takes good care of me, but sometimes her teasing is a bit too much for me. Lucky for me she spends hours at a time quietly doing her work. So, I can sleep and dream without her bothering me. And whenever I need her, she's not too faraway and usually available immediately.
Here’s a fact that perhaps many humans wouldn’t think of about us cats: We can swim. Not that we like to. We don’t usually like water unless perhaps we’re tigers. I hear there are even tigers who like to run through the snow. That’s not me. I’m not one of those cats. I’m a little tuxie and I hate to get wet. I don’t even like steam from a shower my girl might be taking.
We are born with the ability to swim when we need to. Usually we don’t have to. So, that’s probably why you wouldn’t know that about us. We’re usually so agile that it shouldn’t be too hard to understand how it is we know how to swim without being taught. We just do it when we find ourselves in water. Not a pleasant thing to have happen. It’s annoying for us. We can dry out from being in water. Not pleasant to look at either. Being dripping or soaking wet is not my idea of fun.
This wasn’t my idea. I know now it wasn’t my girl’s idea either. It was her mother’s. That woman wouldn’t let Spot or me into house until after we had our foreclaws removed. It was major surgery. Not a pleasant thing. I was already a middle aged cat at the time. I don’t remember the surgery, which is probably a good thing.
My girl believes removing a cat’s foreclaws is a form of mutilation. She is correct. We are maimed for the rest of our lives. Yet, too many humans think it’s a good thing to do. What they mean is they think we cats are objects who shouldn’t mess up their immaculate furniture, which is more important than having someone who will love you unconditionally. I’m glad my girl loves me more than she cares about how her furniture looks.
The vets and vet techs were good to both of us. We were both unconscious during the operations. They put a mask over my face and then I was out. I woke up later in a cage unsure of what was going to happen next. I was groggy and don’t remember much of anything else. That is until my girl was there and happy to see us both. She sat in the back seat of the car with Spot and me in our carriers.
Spot yelled and used terrible language to all the humans in the car. I was so scared that sadly I lost bladder control. My girl knew it happened and didn’t give me a hard time. It was quite embarrassing. Of course, he couldn’t stop complaining loudly and angrily about being trapped in a cage as I was too.
She took us upstairs to her room and closed the door before letting us out. I, of course, found a place to hide. Spot went exploring like the crazy bottle fed half human raised cat that he is. My girl seemed more relaxed. I sensed she had missed us overnight.
It didn’t take me long to find our things. The litter was different to help our paws to heal up. She told us don’t worry about it, she would clean it up. Just use the box. Spot used it first and true to her word, my girl cleaned up immediately. Then I used the new litter too.
I do remember what happened afterwards in the house more clearly. I’m lucky my girl was there when one of my paws starting bleeding. I was sitting on the back of the couch at the time. And to my surprise, I fell into the blinds. I wasn’t expecting it. I tried to use my foreclaws forgetting they were now gone.
I was so startled that I ran up the stairs and into our room. My girl noticed the blood and without any warning, she scooped me up and grabbed a washcloth. She took me into the bathroom and closed the door. She got the washcloth wet and wrapped it around my paw. She held me on her lap and talked to me.
I was scared. But she was comforting me. I didn’t want to be trapped in such a small room, but she wouldn’t let me go. She was firm, but gentle with me. She told me she was worried because my paw was bleeding. She said it was bad and tried to get it to stop. Eventually, it did. She let me go and cleaned up the blood I had trailed around the house.
She covered for me and kept me out of the hospital. So, I didn’t complain after that. She had taken care of me once again. What would I have done without her? I don’t know. I think I would have just hidden away until my paw stopped bleeding on its own.
I also remember jumping on top of the stereo cabinet. I slid towards the mantle over the fireplace. At that time I didn’t understand what was happening. I was always such a good jumper. Even my girl had noticed and told me so. She’s seen me do it quite often and was impressed by my skills. Yet, here I was sliding. It was because I didn’t have foreclaws to use as stop moving after a jump.
My girl and the blind guy tried to encourage me and keep me calm. Her mother didn’t want me to jump on any of the furniture. I don’t know where she got such notions. It’s what we cats do. The blind guy and my girl understood that kind of cat behavior. Why couldn’t my girl’s mother understand too?
I guess the woman thought she could control everything and everyone around her. Well, I hope she’s learned by now, she can’t control cats or even my girl. I’m glad my girl never took that attitude towards cats or anyone else for that matter. It’s just one of the many things which makes me love my girl all the more.
We cats have active imaginations. My girl is one human who still has an active imagination as an adult. I think that might be one reason she gets so silly. We do have an active imagination in common. I think that’s why she understands what I’m doing when I’m stalking my food bowl. She knows I’m pretending to hunt and sneak upon my prey. She finds it amusing.
When she plays with Spot, they both are using their active imaginations. She will tease him with a teddy bear. He pretends the teddy bear is someone to play with. They can do that for longer periods of time than I ever could. Yet, we all have active imaginations. Spot also has a tendency to play with the Y2K bug. He grew up with stuffed animals. The fake kind. He plays with them. My girl never minded. They were hers after all…
That particular Y2K bug lost all six of its legs to Spot. He’d wrestle with it and pretend to kill it. Then he would carry it in his mouth and puff out his chest. He’d announce to all of us about his latest kill.
We cats certainly know how to have a good time without much of anything. All thanks to our active imaginations. How else could we have survived for centuries without you humans to entertain us? I can assure you we weren’t bored as long as we had our active imaginations to entertain us whenever we needed it.
Spot and I had to travel in some planes to get to another part of the country with my girl. We were separated from my girl during the journey and then reunited in the new place. We were placed into carriers. I hate being trapped in a box and I wasn’t the only one. Spot hated it as much as I did. We were separated from my girl and stuffed into cargo with luggage and a dog… I do not like dogs. Even when they are nice and fans of cats. Fortunately, the dog was in a carrier as we were. No way that one was going to come near either one of us.
We were frisked before we were separated from my girl. She was tense and I could sense her guilt towards Spot and me. Oh, I do wish I knew what was wrong with her. I didn’t understand at the time. I’m not sure I understand now. I look back now and realize she did what she had to. She did keep us together. She kept her promise to us.
I know she will continue to keep her promises to my kind until she is no longer able to. I know she will do her best. Her best was good enough for me. I hope it will be good enough for any other cats she will have to look after in her life after I’ve gone over the rainbow bridge.
Oh, humans why do you put cats in cargo? We’re people. Yet, you want to treat us as if we are objects to be owned by you. You don’t own us. You can never own us. We choose to live with you. You only think you choose us. We allow you to believe that little lie so you will continue to care for us for the rest of our lives.
Well, it was horrible to be in the cargo of a plane. It’s cold. We were trapped inside of cages. There was turbulence. The planes weren’t that still in the air. It was a bumpy ride! It’s painful on our ears. You think your ears pop when you’re on a plane? You think it’s uncomfortable? Imagine what it feels like to be us. I couldn’t stop screaming during the flights.
I couldn’t have one sensible thought while trapped like that. Spot was near me, but it wasn’t enough. He was busy shouting the whole trip.
Spot yelled and cursed my girl. She did deserve it. Of course it was her fault. She put these things in motion and then we landed in the cargo hold of a couple of planes. That plane trip was terrible. I don’t recommend flying on a plane as a cat. My girl didn’t like it either. She was so worried about us that her anxiety was too high. Served her right. She wasn’t even on the same planes as we were. Yet, she could hear the two of us.
Then Spot and I were put in a garage. We weren’t allowed into the house until after we had our foreclaws removed. I at least did the sensible thing and found a safe place to hide while I waited and became used to my new home. Spot— I don’t know why he’s so curious— he went and explored our new home. While he was exploring, he stepped on something he shouldn’t have.
But I suppose it was going to happen. He tended to walk around everywhere without a care in the world. The blind guy and my girl’s mother must not have known he is like this. They had left a remote garage door opener lying around in the garage. Then Spot stepped on it and opened the big door with a very loud noise.
It scared him so much, he ran to my hiding place and jumped on top of me. *Shakes head.* Honestly, I don’t know why he did things like that. It was his fault he stepped on the remote. Well, my girl’s mother came out and figured out what had happened and checked on both of us. Until she found us, she had thought Spot had run away.
I’m glad he didn’t. As much as he drives me crazy, I love him and I never want to lose him as I had my mother and my brothers.
It some time later when my girl arrived. She came in and checked on us. I’m just glad that in spite of that terrible trip, she still loved us and wanted to take care of us. I didn’t want to lose her too. Even though she couldn’t tell me what was wrong, she still stood by us.
If she hadn’t, I don’t know what I would have done without her. That whirlwind had become such a big part of my life, that I couldn’t imagine what life would be like without her. I know I wouldn’t have felt safe enough to complain whenever things were wrong.
Who would be there to listen to me and do her best to fix everything for me? In spite of her fumbling and her silliness, she was the one constant that I love to keep in my life.
We cats like to dream about all sorts of things. We have active imaginations and we sleep enough to have an active dream life. Some humans have proven it with our permission of course.
What do we dream about? You, us, mice, dogs. Really anything. My dreams are fairly mundane unless the fairies show up. For me they are tiny humanoids with wings made up of pure white light. They are quite beautiful. And playful. And silly. And magical. They sprinkle their dust on me and… it’s too embarrassing to discuss any further than that.
I dream of it all. I dream of my lost family and I dream of my current family. My dreams are usually pleasant. Sometimes I have nightmares. Fortunately, they don’t last long. Then I’m back to my pleasant dream life. Can you say the same about yours?
I’m not sure what happened after we had camped out. I saw my girl moving our stuff out of the place we were in for one night. Spot and I hid from her. Just out of her reach. But it was no use. After she had taken everything out, she came back for us. By then it was dark. She stuffed me into another carrier. She put Spot into a backpack that she put on her back. She set my carrier down in a basket. The back basket of her tricycle. She took us to our new home.
I had a lot to say about this move. It was the first time I had ridden on a tricycle. It wasn’t as bad as a car. My girl could ride it well. I knew it was her vehicle of choice. I couldn’t understand why Spot was so quiet. Perhaps because he was on her back? He could see better than I could. He had nothing to say about this ride we were forced to take.
It was a short ride. She locked up her tricycle and then picked up my cage. She carried us into the new place. I was still complaining. Now Spot was joining in too. We met no one along the way to our new place. Well, as soon as we were inside, my girl let us out.
Spot went exploring. I wasted no time finding a place to hide. Our stuff was everywhere. It was a big mess. I couldn’t find anything. I didn’t want to do anything. I just wanted to hide. It was a strange place. It was much too scary. My girl was busying organizing things and making too much noise.
As a cat, I don’t need to own a lot of things. It’s just the way it is. Sometimes we get some good extras like furniture made for us. But typically we just need food and water bowls, a litter box, a place to sleep, and something to claw up. We can use the furniture typically thought of as just for humans. It’s our home too. We like to share everything. Have you noticed? I know my girl did. She is quite smart about us cats.
But you just wouldn’t believe how much stuff my girl used to own. It was unreal whenever we had to move. It was too much. She doesn’t have that much anymore. She is traveling as light as she’s been able to. Some people have told her she still has too much. She’s shocked by that. She has reduced what she’s owned over the years and feels freer and lighter than when we were moving around too much as far as I’m concerned.
Even she could agree on that. So, it was good for all of us that we had another apartment for just the three of us again. It had a sleeping alcove. My girl loved it. She had a job that caused her to be on a different sleep schedule and she appreciated having that alcove. She put up a curtain and it was cozy and dark. There were lots of pillows to protect her when she tossed and turned as she slept.
She even went swimming in a pool at night. I could smell the chlorine on her when she came back. It wasn’t a pleasant smell. Then she would do some writing and work on her magazine that she had at the time. It was quite a life for a time.
But that place was so dark when she turned out the lights that she couldn’t see me at all. In fact, she couldn’t see much of anything. I could tell her I was right there. She never stepped on me when I told her how close she was to me. Bless her for that.
Then I don’t know what was going on. I made a vocal sound that disturbed her. I was loud about it too. She complained that I was sounding just like a full fledged tom cat. She reminded me I wasn’t one anyone and hadn’t been for quite a long time.
I didn’t listen. I kept making the noise, but then I would jump up on the bed and rub up against her. I so love my girl. For once I was the one who was driving her crazy. I suppose we were outside for too long. Spot never did this. It could be that he was fixed at a younger age than I was. He never sprayed either. I of course knew how to spray. I did it on purpose to get my girl’s attention whenever I got mad at her. It annoyed her so much… And the ways in which she reacted tended to get ridiculous that I still knew she hated what I was doing, but still loved me unconditionally at the same time.
But he was the one who sometimes would venture out with her. We were inside a building, so it wasn’t a big deal. But he usually freaked out when he heard someone else. I don’t know why he wanted to explore the place beyond our apartment. But that was Spot. I was quite content to stay inside our little place to ponder my life as it was in our safe little space.
My meditation was good there. It was a nice place. Don’t ask me why we left there. My girl never said. I was beginning to think something was wrong. Something she found difficult to talk about and difficult to deal with. But our lives were about to change radically again.
But at least we were able to stay together. Otherwise I don’t know how I would have gotten through it. The whirlwind was having some serious trouble. I just never knew how bad it was for her. But I do know she did everything she could to keep us all together.
With her serious problem, I don’t know how she was able to keep her promise to Spot and me, but she did. As far as I’m concerned, she did what she should have for us. She did it without complaint to us. But it made her cry too much. I knew she was sick to some extent. In spite of that sickness, she could take care of us and herself. As a cat, I do have a unique perspective on my girl.
I doubt my views of her matched what some other humans were saying about her. Those humans weren’t very nice to my girl or to my kind in general. Unfortunately, they were the ones who dictated certain things to my girl and she had to comply. At least for a time. But never forever.
My girl is right. We all need some playtime. I was never that fond of toys or playing a lot. But she is right. We do need some playtime. We all need to rest and relax from the stress in our lives.
Perhaps we experience a different form of stress than you humans do. But we need to play too. I like to wrestle other cats. I know my girl will play with me. *Sigh.* I don’t always like it, but I know she won’t take it too far. She just wants to play for a little bit. Then she stops before I ever lose it. She even plays with Spot as if she is a cat! The two of them have a lot fun doing that. I think they’re both nuts and silly.
But they are right. We do need some playtime. Otherwise life can become too much for us to handle on our own.
You humans have discovered a new virus that is highly contagious, spreads quickly, and practically none of you have immunity to it. Your scientists are working on a vaccine, but it’s not available now to prevent this crisis.
Some of you humans are on lockdown. I hope you have cats (and you’re not allergic) or even a dog. We can and will keep you from being too lonely. Cats tend to purr and we help you when you’re sick. We will look after you.
If you’re extroverted, a lockdown will be hard on you. You won’t be able to go out unless you have to work or get food or medication. If you don’t live with others, then you can try going into virtual reality. No need to be socially isolated from others in this time of the pandemic.
If you’re introverted, please enjoy your solitude. You probably won’t need to worry about getting any hangovers from over socializing. Don’t forget to talk to your friends and relatives to keep them from getting lonely or feeling forgotten.
Oh, and don’t forget to take care of yourselves and us if you have us to look after. We can’t get this virus from you or give it to you. So, you don’t need to worry about that. Just stay calm and enjoy what time you have.
One more thing to my fellow cats: we need to take care of our devoted human servants or else we could end up back in the Cat Dark Ages. Let’s not go there. Let’s work together for everyone’s survival. We need each other in times like these.
From what I understand is cats sleep longer per day than humans do. There is some variance. Some humans claim they only need to sleep four hours a day. I hope you’re right about that. I know my girl tends to do well on about seven to eight hours a day.
We cats tend to sleep for at least 16 hours a day. Humans just can’t come close unless they are suffering from concussions or post-concussions. I’m not sure it’s good for you humans to get that much sleep unless you really need it for health reasons.
And you know what we cats do while we sleep? We dream. Vividly. Some humans have proven it. We actively dream while we sleep. We don’t always sleep for 16 hours straight. We take naps throughout the day.
What did you expect? We have to eat and use the litter box too. We also need to exercise and get some love from others we love. So, you may think we’re not doing much of anything all day long, but you’re wrong. We’re dreaming our lives away.
You can’t even come close to us in our dreaming lives. You’re just not asleep enough every day to do that.
Tragedy had struck again. To this wonderful second family of mine. I was terribly upset, but I was able to adapt with them. I was able to look after Spot and my girl. I don’t know what happened or why. My girl couldn’t talk about it. Whatever it was, it was hard on her. Perhaps harder on her than on Spot or me.
So, we had to move out of our first home we had shared together. We went to live in someone’s backyard in a tent. My girl slept in the tent at night. Spot and I would sleep with her as well. I don’t think my girl found the situation ideal, but there wasn’t much else she could do at the time.
Things seemed bad for her. Spot and I were safe. We knew where our home was even if it meant we were outside. I had lived outside from my birth, so it wasn’t anything new to me. I just had to give him a few lessons. My girl still had food for us, but being me, I hunted and caught a couple of birds.
The first one was tasty. I left the head and a wing as a gift for my girl. I left it at her feet. She saw it when she woke up the next morning. And what did she do when she realized what the gift was? She screamed. She is a vegetarian. There was no thanks for that gift. *Sigh.* Yes, my beloved girl is a vegetarian.
I guess I should have known. I guess I may have overlooked that fact because she did tend to eat animal products. But she is a vegetarian. I know anymore she tries to eat mainly plants because they make her feel better. But that’s another story.
At least Spot and I didn’t need a litter box at our camp. We could bury our waste outside where the humans wouldn’t know. It was one less thing for my girl to worry about. Sometimes I would stay out all day and then I’d hear my girl calling for me. I could tell she missed me. So, of course I went to her when she called.
But then something odd happened while we were camping. A bird came to dive bomb me! It was an angry bird. It was loud and vocal about who I had eaten. I was in trouble and didn’t know what to do. So, I called for my girl. She came to my rescue.
She explained to me why the bird was upset. Surprisingly, my girl wasn’t upset with me. She understood why I had eaten the birds. I guess I never realized that a bird would be upset about my hunting. I never knew my prey could love as I could. Now I know better. I’m glad my girl saved me. She didn’t have to do much. She just flung her arms around while the bird was flying. Then it would fly up in a tree, but it was still complaining.
My girl could hear how upset the bird was as I could. I never expected anyone to complain about me being a hunter. I just don’t understand it. I’m a cat. I hunt for food. To eat. To survive. Spot even tried to catch a bird, but he got clawed and didn’t try again.
I didn’t try to hunt any more birds either. It just wasn’t safe. What would I do if my girl wasn’t around to protect me from any angry birds? I didn’t know. Getting pecked isn’t fun at all. But we didn’t camp out forever. I had no idea how soon it would be before we would have another apartment again.
The three of us moved again into a temporary house. Our stuff was hidden for safety. So, we waited. We spent that night not in the tent, but in a bathroom. All three of us. Spot and I were fine sleeping on the floor. My girl seemed to be okay. I don’t know how big she rates as a human. But she had to curl around to fit on the floor. Spot and I cuddled up to her without any trouble.
The next day, my girl left for quite a while. Spot and I were alone with strange humans around. There was a mama cat who had some kittens to look after too. I don’t know what my girl was doing. Perhaps she was making arrangements for our new home. She didn’t tell me.
Well, the mama cat and I got into a fight. It wasn’t pretty. I didn’t care she was a girl. We had a territorial dispute. I thought since my girl slept there last night that it was our place and this mama cat was encroaching on our turf. So, the other humans separated the mama cat and me. Spot was still with me and not causing any trouble.
One of the humans came to take a shower in the bathroom and had no idea he was there. He ended up soaking wet, but never complained. He didn’t learn that from me. I knew to stay out of the bathroom when someone wanted to take a shower. It’s just common sense for a cat. But he had been bottle fed and half raised by a human…
When my girl found out that I had a fight with the mama cat, she scolded me and told me I should have let her win. Something about the mama cat was just defending her kittens. Where did I go wrong? My girl wasn’t mean about it, but I was shocked she was telling me these things.
Fortunately, for us we weren’t staying there again for another night. So, the kittens weren’t separated from their mama for very long.
And to think I got chewed out for fighting a mama cat? What was my girl thinking? She isn’t my mother.
Sir Socks Le Chat 