Loose Ends

Parker, our cat who walked on a razor, is back to normal, except for a decreased level of playfulness yesterday. He eats/drinks fine, and no longer bleeds. I'm happy about that. We decided Sunday night to sequester both cats in a bathroom as we only have one litter box in our rental house; the other cat objected strenuously to this and clawed my cheek. We had some Augmentin around so I took one on Taciturn's recommendation to ward off evil spirits. However, I still look like a cat clawed my cheek. Oy vey.

T called his mom and her husband Saturday am as I was on my way out of the door to Weight Watchers for my first weigh in for five months. Mom reassured us she really had to work a lot and it wasn't because they didn't want us to visit.

Are they reading my blog? Doubt it.

Anyway, AWM and I spoke briefly on the phone. Again, I was on my way out. When I asked him how he was, he said he still had his shirt before "Obama takes it." I decided it was time to leave, so I said, "Well, gotta go! Nice talking with you, here's T!" T took the phone and told him I was on my way to WW (true).

I babysat my grandsons yesterday while DIL took Granddaughter to the dentist for fillings. She was discovered a few weeks ago to have five cavities, which are all in baby teeth that will hang around for a few years. GS #1, who is unpredictable in his responses (he is quite an emotional little boy, prone to meltdowns), was very happy and cuddly, while GS #2 had a meltdown when his mom left. It was cute to see GS #1 reassure him that "Mommy will be back!" Anyway, the meltdown passed, and we watched Manny the Handyman over and over again. It was enjoyable, though, so no problem for me! When GD got home, she was not happy--she had three fillings, and the rest will be done in a couple of weeks. She plopped down on the sofa and watched The Parent Trap.

We are having dinner over there tonight. I'm sure she'll be able to eat by then!

Got a note this am from Kirkepiscatoid saying she would be in town today and would give me a call. May get to have breakfast with her!

Learning Eliza

We've had almost a week now to get to know our new cat. We are learning that she is very much her own girl, and that to compare her to our late cat is, well, silly.

I think the only things they have in common are that they are/were both cats.

Eliza is so sociable that she cannot EAT without one of us in the vicinity of her food dish. Yesterday while I was away and Taciturn worked unpacking books in the basement study, she stood at the stop of the steps and meowed--LOUDLY. She had been quiet for the two hours he already had spent in the study. He came upstairs to see what the fuss was about, and she strolled over to her dish and chowed down. She wakes us up in the mornings for the same reason.

Her water must be fresh. She meows at the water bowl in the mornings and in the evenings until we dump it and put new in. Only then will she drink. She has tried to drink out of the faucet in the bathroom while the water is running. We may need to get one of those bubbling dishes--I had one for Allie but tossed it when she died.

She also is fastidious. Last evening she came out of the laundry room where her litter box is and meowed loudly at me. I went in there and sure enough, it was pretty soiled. I cleaned it up and only then would she use it. I always have been good about keeping litter boxes clean as I don't like them to stink, but apparently what I used to do is not good enough for her. So I'm scooping 2-3 times a day.

Now she sits on my desk as I type this. She really enjoys--craves, actually--our company and follows us around like a dog! But she also enjoys her afternoon nap on the kitchen stool (she likes the pad) and gets cranky if that is interrupted. T moved a stool on which she was sleeping last night so we could eat at the island.

Yeah, we love our cat. Hope her companion can join us soon. We'll hear tomorrow.

New Family Member

I've been neglecting not only my blog but Facebook. Between getting reintegrated into normal life as well as the start of the church program year, I've been crazy busy. I still haven't cleaned my house yet, either! (It is neat, just not clean.)

And to add to the craziness, we decided to adopt not one, but two new cats. So Friday we went to the pound and played with several cats. Two chose us. One had been named Miss Kitty (original), is 9 months old, and when we took her out of her cage at the pound, placed both of her paws on my shoulders, looked me straight in the eye, and purred. We took her home with the new name of Eliza. The other cat who chose us is named Parker (we kept that name), rubbed his face on Taciturn's arm and purred, and gave me a kiss. Obviously we thought he'd like to come live with us. He still has his manhood, though, so we can't take him home until Tuesday afternoon (surgery is Tuesday morning).


A bit of background about what we are used to in cats--we had an old cat, Allie, who died of cancer last year at age 12. I had Al since she was 4 weeks old--she was picked up off a playground where she had been dumped and given to us. Al was almost totally feral and never really warmed up to people. Something that didn't help was the torture to which she was subjected by the disturbed child who was then (briefly) my stepson when she was still a kitten. She was always cold and aloof, fully expecting to be beaten and so she responded to petting, picking up, etc, with full scale attacks. Guests were greeted with a sign telling them DO NOT PET THE CAT!

I think she was six years old before I could pet her and keep her in my lap for long periods of time. An interesting exception was when I was divorcing the father of the above stepson--she kept very close to me, sat in my lap for hours at a time, and would hiss and claw at that man when he would try to pet her. He then would turn to me accusingly, and I would shrug and say, "You know I can't train her to do that!"

(Allie was a very good judge of character.)

To make a long story short, we are not used to a loving, affectionate cat. Al would occasionally allow us to pet her, but after a few minutes it got to be too much for her--she'd nip at us then zip off.

Eliza is the total opposite! She hates being away from us. She climbs onto our shoulders, she jumps into our laps, she sleeps with us. She is so calm and easy to be around. The two times we have left her she hid. Allie hid when we were there and came out when we were gone! Eliza is such a joy. I wish I could tell the folks who surrendered her for adoption that they did a great job with her. (Apparently they moved and couldn't take her.) They must miss her terribly. She is a very affectionate and well socialized animal.

Since Eliza is so much fun, we are eager to bring Parker home. I'll blog about that later this week!