Thursday, January 27, 2011
Enough About Your Baby, How's The Cat?
7:50 PM | 
Posted by
Wide Lawns |
As a child I read this book called Socks
about a cat who feels ousted by his family's new baby. I loved that book and it gave me great empathy for my own cat's situation. Because of this book, I swore I wouldn't make my own cat feel unloved.I've done my best for her. I made her washcloth beds all over the house in cool places, like this one in the photo which is on the windowsill in my dining room. I also heat towels for her in the dryer so she can sit on them, which she adores. I grew her some cat grass and I try to brush her a few times a week at night after the baby has gone to bed and I'm still up. I'm really trying.
Canela though, has had a lot to entertain herself. For one, we're in the new house with lots of windows and a yard for her to look out at. There are new cats in the new neighborhood and for a while she had two suitors. Canela found herself in the middle of a tragic love affair. I feel terrible for her.
A few doors down lived a family with a large, long haired tabby male named Tiger. Tiger was a people cat and extremely friendly. I met him when I saw him trotting alongside his family as they walked their two dogs. It was the cutest thing ever. Pretty soon Tiger started hanging out in my yard. He'd sit on my front step and sometimes go around to my back patio and look in where he'd rile up Canela. Pretty soon he was there all day and night and before long, he had a rival - a black cat named Clyde who lives across the street.
One night Tiger and Clyde were having a stand off, vowing for Canela's love, in the front yard. They started around eight at night and the next morning at six am they were still there! That has to be some kind of cat standoff staring contest record.
I think Tiger won because Canela liked when he came to visit but would hiss and puff at Clyde. Soon, Tiger was a permanent fixture in our driveway where he'd lay on his back and roll and roll in submission and then, in what has to be the sweetest act of feline romance I've ever witnessed, Tiger began leaving dead lizards on our step as tokens of his affection for his striped lady friend. I was very touched.
But then it happened. Tiger's family were renters. They had problems with the landlord and didn't like their house and a couple days before Christmas they moved out taking Tiger with them. Canela looked out the window and searched for her boyfriend for two weeks. I thought she might settle for Clyde, but he stopped coming around too and now my girl is single and lonely again. Isn't that the saddest thing? I was so disappointed that they moved. I was looking forward to chewed up reptiles each morning when I opened my front door to get the mail.
But no, Canela is fine. She says hello and meow.
**Special Edit**
I forgot to mention that Canela is nowhere near as sad as my friend's cat Luco, who is going through some sort of terrible existential crisis and has begun a blog to document his journey through depression and feline philosophy. Please visit Luco's blog and cheer him up, or at least enjoy his biting wit and cute cat pictures.
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9 comments:
OMG, saddest, most tragic story of feline romance gone awry EVER. Regardless, I loved it.
In other news, my sister had HER daughter two days ago. Ten pounds, one ounce! Ouch.
Poor Kitty!
By the way, W.L., are you ever going to let us know your baby's name?
Lil Skraps
Great post, and Canela is adorable. I LOVED the book Socks when I was a kid - thank you for reminding me of it!
What a cute picture of Canela! She's lucky to have such a devoted owner. (Or do you consider yourself her mom?)
Hey, our cat has been known to walk with us when we take the dogs around the block. She hasn't followed us to the coffee shop, which is good. I thought ours was the only one to do that! I hope Tiger is happy in his new neighborhood.
You're so good to Canela! Not everybody would be so understanding to do those special things for her.
Awwww, poor kitty! The dead lizards were so romantic!
Cats like that are awesome. We had one that would go on walks with us and the dog to the playground. Then he'd lie down on the merry-go-round and yowl until you pushed it for him. He also liked climbing the monkey bars with my little brother. The slide wasn't his thing though, he only tried it once.
So glad you're posting. I'd gotten quite spoiled to having something new from you a few times a week.
Is there any chance we can have a picture of Baby Lawns?
Much love and meow to Canela.
Meow
Thanks for the Luco link! The existential feline ennui is absolutely cracking me up!