Kitty Update

 "You can't just let your cat dominate your life" -a friend, watching as our cat dominates aspects of our life

     There was some response when I shared a very long description of our odd cat's very odd behavior 2 summers ago. She started spending inordinate amounts of time outdoors. Then, summer before last, my son and his most excellent partner stayed in our house while we were away for a month, and she acted out again in some way that I can no longer describe well., but was well short of, say, pooping in our shoes. She did go back to her usual oddness, to wit, insistence on one indoor spot and one spot only to curl up in. Cooler weather will apparently bring her back in to us again, but she has not set foot in our house of her own accord since about March.

     If we leave town these days with a neighbor, something of a cat whisperer, looking in on Zou-Zou, then we can't really justify if for more than 1 night. When she was indoors and we left for 2 nights or so, she sometimes had very _minor_ potty problems, an anomaly for such a Good Kitty. We interpret this as a manifestation of her emotional state. We have no intention of making our kitty sad. Poor kitty!

     I'm having a hard time hitting my stride, narrative-wise, so I'll give a brief description of where she's at and leave it at that.

     Canned food please. We are a kitty of a Certain Age [17 or so] and we have certain tastes. No, not that can. Wait- that's yesterday's food fluffed up. No thank you.

     She will come to within 10 feet of the door to eat. No closer.

     No laps unless she chooses to jump up after significant amounts of foreplay, making it a commitment by the human of half an hour at least. For about 10 minutes of serious lap-sitting.

     Kitty was not blessed with a particularly dulcet-toned meow. I wonder if the neighbors flinch when she goes into her act at 5 and 5. That's morning and evening. It's OK. That's when I wake up.

     Litter box is right out. Now, she prefers to dig a hole in the soil of the garden, poop next to it, and leave it unburied. 

    Kitty Safe Places, a feature of kitty's peculiarity all her life, have included a comfy chair, one part of a carpet, a window overwatch, one spot on the couch-- NOT another, thank you very much. Oh, you wanted to watch TV? Claudia's work desk has been a favorite for all concerned parties. Now, she has moved on from the outdoors spot on the dirt where she can watch for intruding quadripeds to a place on the concrete, the wrought iron chair [there is not enough wreaking of iron these days], more dirt spots, and a cozy bit of rocks and sod. Don't ask me why.

      Claudia says kitty suffered a stroke at some point, making parallels with her late mother's troubles in her dotage. That might explain kitty's departure from the warm and cozy domestic life she had settled on. In all of this, she has stayed a handsome feline, but under her fairly luxuriant fur she is just a little bag o' bones. 

     We really hope that she is still here when Claudia returns from her vacation, but we just never know. 

     Yes, that's right. Claudia takes her vacation, and I take mine. We wouldn' wanna leave kitty All By Herself, now. Poooor kitty!!