Apparently I Am Now A Cat Lady

I have always been a dog person. We had dogs as pets when I was younger, but my other half has a cat, so I’ve had to adjust. It’s a bit of a learning curve.

I feel compelled to point out that I have never been anti-cat. My childhood neighbours had lots of them, and I have several friends with cats. I am allergic to them, though. Not that this stops me from visiting my friends; I take extra allergy pills.

Spending time at my boyfriend’s house is a bit different than visiting friends. I am there a lot, often overnight and when he’s at work. Tilly is a lovely cat, and very quickly came and sat on me when we watched TV. And as I stayed over more often and for longer periods she started sleeping at my feet, or between the feet of us both. Then I started waking up to her sleeping next to my face. It’s best to not roll over and face-plant into a cat unexpectedly when you are allergic to them by the way. 

Allergy pills have been adjusted and an equilibrium reached so the nighttime cuddles aren’t too bad.

The biggest adjustment for me has been not knowing what the heck is going through that tiny noggin of hers! I feed her, she continues to meow at me or stretch up to the place where the food is kept despite the fact I have literally just put her bowl down. She gets treats, and she picks through them, arbitrarily eating some and shoving others out of the way. Flavour doesn’t seem to be a factor in this process.

Then there is her peculiar habit of clambering to odd places to sit or sleep. It’s like she finds a lovely comfy place like the back of the sofa or on your lap, suddenly decides it’s the least comfy place on the planet and then goes and balances precariously on the top of games consoles or on narrow ledges.  These places change at her whim too. She’lll spend days sleeping on the floor by the kitchen door, then the other morning I nearly stood on her as I got up as she was randomly sleeping next to the bed. She does have actual cat beds but shows no interest in them at all.

As much as I may never understand her, I do love her. And I feel pleased when I am chosen for head rubs and cosy cuddles, though still getting used to this kneading malarkey, especially when the claws are involved.  I know I will always be the secondary human but it’s nice to be considered safe and family by her.