Cats

I don't know when I first took a liking to cats.  As a child I always thought cat people were boring. 

Perhaps it is when I first saw Cats in New York.  It was after a long day in a long week...four shows in five days, and Cats was the last one to see.  Almost didn't go...that's how tired I was.

I had no idea of what to expect, and was I ever pleasantly surprised.  Such a delightful show!  The fact that we had almost front row seats helped, for sure. 

It was soon after that that I acquired Abby.  Abby had a sad demise.  She overdosed on catnip at Christmas.  Who knew?  Abby was also traumatized by the Old English Sheepdog, Molly.  Abby made the mistake of sneaking up behind Molly while Molly was eating.  Molly, never known to be violent before, grabbed the cat by the head and tossed her across the room, which necessitated an emergency visit to the vet.  $463 later Abby was home with the vet's advice to never let her near Molly when Molly was eating.  A trick in and of itself, let me tell you. 

Molly and Abby went on to be best friends, never again to squabble, but the injury to Abby's head may have impacted on her early demise.

Ava was allegedly found on the streets of Pittsburgh.  A trainee of mine found her and brought her to me in my office.  She was dirty, tiny and not well cared for.  A trip to the vet's, a bath and spaying brought her back to my abode where she rules the house.

I believe each cat has a very distinctive personality.  Ava likes to have her back scratched.  She actually comes when you call her....well, most of the time.  She has arthritis and takes dasquin every day, but is otherwise pretty healthy.  She sits on the chair opposite me while I eat my breakfast, and I find myself telling her of interesting parts to my book or articles in the newspaper.  She cocks her head to one side and appears to be listening. 

Ava is not a good mouser.  She is not quick, very slow to be honest.  And she chases them into a corner of the closet and when the mouse leaves, Ava stays, still looking around wondering "what happened".  And we have already discussed stink bugs.

Cats are delightful.  They require little care, are clean, funny to a fault, leaping from pillar to post, racing around, chasing light beams reflected from the crystal in the sunlight.  Ava is an indoor cat...I fear the outdoors for her.  But when she does escape...she panics.  (She has not been declawed in case she does get outside)  She looks around, whines loudly and kind of chatters with her teeth.  I think she is glad when I finally am able to corral her into the house again.

Yes, I have turned into a cat person.  Would love to get a dog again, and probably will some day, but for now, Ava is a joy to have and I have become one of those boring cat people.