New Apartment—Moving Again

After some time, my girl was able to get another apartment for the three of us. We were there for a time. Moving wasn’t fun, but after all our things were in and we were there, things got better fast. There was another sleeping alcove. She put up a curtain to make it dark and cozy just as before. Spot and I used to cuddle and sleep on her bed. It didn’t matter if she was there or not.

It was a noisy place. Much too noisy. Spot and I thought there would be strangers coming into the apartment. But there weren’t. It was just us. I’m glad it was just us. Strangers bother me. I don’t know if I can trust them. My girl understands that. She managed to get some good pictures of me and of Spot in this place.

We could hear our next door neighbors. There was at least one cat who meowed loudly enough to rival my vocal prowess. My girl thought we would end up talking to each other. But being cats knowing we lived on the opposite side of the wall and in a different apartment, we ignored each other.

The walls were too thin there. We could hear the neighbors watching tv. It wasn’t good for my girl. She had to go to bed earlier than they did and so she had a hard time falling asleep while they were watching tv. I did what I could for her, but it wasn’t very much.

But we didn’t stay here forever. I don’t know why. My girl never told us why. She just packed up our things and got us ready. We have moved too many times during our time together. I still don’t know why. My girl didn’t like it anymore than we did. I could tell by the way she was acting.

I just hope she will be okay sooner or later. I get that sometimes she has to work outside of our home, wherever it may be, and I miss her when she’s gone. But she does come home and pays attention to us. I just wish she could stay here all the time and work here instead.

I wonder how she would like that. But she has done that quite often. She seems happier when she works here at home than outside somewhere. Sure we could watch her leave the building. I’ve seen her many times on the street or sidewalk just outside. When that happened, she would wave at me.

I knew that it would be any minute that she would come through the door. So, I’d turn around and face the door. She’d get the message and come home in a matter of minutes. I just wish we could have stayed in the same place together for years and years. Moving around all the time was awful to deal with. My girl knew that and yet she was still able to keep us together though that rough period of her life.

But it wasn’t to be in this place either. *Sigh.* It makes me wish I could have done something to help her out. But I’m just a cat. There wasn’t anything I could do but offer my moral support. It wasn’t enough and she knows it as well as I do.

But I did at least get my wish. Eventually, we were able to stay in one place for years. It was the last home we shared together.

August 1, 2020 0

Outside Again?

I used to be an indoor and outdoor cat. I came and went as I pleased. That was until after I had lived with my girl for some time. At first, she wouldn’t let me out at all. Eventually, she let me out when she left to go to school. When she came home, so did I. Although, she once saw me on her way home and I was running in the opposite direction. As soon as I realized it was her calling me, I ran back to the porch where the door to where our first home was. She came around to the porch after locking up her tricycle and we went inside where little Spot was waiting. We were all happily reunited after a day apart.

At least that was how it was once. But this new place was where we came after a long plane trip trapped in a cage in the cargo hold. I had no idea where we were. I didn’t realize the climate was different. The ground was certainly different here than where I was born and raised. I soon found out quite by accident…

I managed to get outside once at this place. Someone had left the front door open and I took the chance. I walked outside on the porch. Then I walked off and past the sidewalk. I stopped when I had reached the grass. The ground was much too soft. Where was I? I hollered for help. I couldn’t help it. I was so confused and scared.

My girl came up behind me and talked to me. I was too upset to notice what was different with the tone of her voice. Then she scooped me up from behind and carried me back inside the house. Trust me, it didn’t take long for me to calm down after that. I don’t appreciate someone catching me and picking me up, but I was freaked out and once again my girl saved me. She carried me back inside to safety.

I didn’t go outside after that. It was too strange and scary for me. Besides, I could hear dogs out there. I have never liked dogs. Also my girl was inside with me. She was looking out for me. Better than anyone else ever could. I had no reason to go out after that.

I was used to hard dirt. Not soft grass. I didn’t know how to react or what to do. Besides, my foreclaws were gone now. How would I defend myself against another cat? I didn’t know. I did know there were plenty of strange cats out there. One even came up to the house and tried to talk to my girl. Spot and I weren’t having it. We told the newcomer he wasn’t welcome to my girl and his mama.

We were the two cats here and we weren’t allowing another to come in. My girl didn’t say or do anything. I know she heard the cat. Perhaps she had remembered the other cat that had come to her? That much have been it. That one was a full fledged tom cat. He was a lean mean hunting machine. He had lived in the desert, where I’m from.

But Spot and I wouldn’t allow him into our home either. My girl tried to help him, but to this day, she can’t say what had happened to that cat. I know she must have cared. She even tried to call after he was placed into a shelter. But she never found out anything.

So, she probably was afraid to do anything wondering if the first cat who had tried to join us had been killed in the shelter. I think she also didn’t want to upset Spot or me. We were her priority. A new cat was another added responsibility that she couldn’t afford to have. Seeing it from her point of view makes me very grateful that she never got rid of us and did what she could to keep us together.

I knew my hunting days were over. But my girl would feed me well. That much I knew I could rely on. What would I have done without her? I have no idea. I think I would have died early without her care and love. Sadly, my claws and teeth aren’t the best. I have lost most of my teeth over my life. I don’t know why it happened to me. My claws tend to be brittle too. But as I have written before, my girl takes such good care of me, I don’t have to worry about going hungry.

I know how much she loves me too. She shows me by giving me wet food whenever I ask for it. She even told me she’d keep even if I ever lose all my teeth. She is so sweet and kind. I’m glad she’s a part of my life even though she is a whirlwind.

July 1, 2020 0

New Home

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.

April 1, 2020 0