May 23, 2008 at 11:16 pm · Filed under Life, Pets and tagged: complicated, harmony, impossible, Pets, Santa Barbara, simple
August 22, 2007 at 3:46 am · Filed under Life, Pets and tagged: affectionate, cat, crazies, pet adoption, Pets, posture, teaser, whine, won over
My black kitty has awakened and wants me to play with her. She does this every night.
She is not the same cat we brought home from the animal shelter two years ago.
Istas was a 4-month-old kitten that had been captured by animal control. I don’t know what her short life was all about before we adopted her, but she was not a cat who wanted affection. She whined when we picked her up and purred like a motorboat yet kept one arm outstretched against us so we couldn’t hold her too closely. It was as if she was saying, “Clearly I cannot keep you from picking me up, but I will make certain you know how much this displeases me.”
Whatever!
I wondered how long she was on her own. And I wondered whether we could ever win her over by our affection for her. I was willing to keep trying.
That trying paid off. She is an amazing girlie-girl cat who stays up late with me while I write. She talks (and talks and talks) to me each morning when I come downstairs. She throws herself on the floor and purrs away while I pet her. I call it “worship time” because she’s a cat and of course that’s what she thinks I’m doing. She has us trained, I suppose.
She comes when we call her, talking/purring all the way, and yes, she even lets us hold her close….okay, she protests a bit, but not like she used to.
She initiates play with us. Some nights she drags her feather teaser around and drops it at our feet. Other nights she’ll get the nighttime crazies, head me off while I’m walking around and posture me repeatedly trying to get me to chase her — ”Come and Get Me” is one of her favorite games.
And we have conversations. I don’t know what exactly I’m saying to her when I meow back at her when she meows at me, but it keeps it going. Then she flops down on the floor and I’m there “worshiping” her again. I know, I’m “one of those” and I’m unashamed about it.
She’s a treasure. I wouldn’t have believed two years ago that she would come around eventually. Turns out, she’s a perfect fit for this bustling family of 7. We have plenty of love to give her.
© Alexa Lopez 2007
