For centuries, cats have been used to curb the rodent population in the home.

Marmalade seems to have skipped that gene.

One holiday, I guinea-pig sat for a friend. I fed them lettuce twice a day while Marmalade watched from the corner. Her pupils dilated and her tail shook back and forth. Every time she took a step forward to investigate she ran back to her corner.

After minutes, she finally came right up to the cage. The guinea pig looked over at her, squeaked and moved towards her. Marmalade jumped and ran out of the room! And this was after two or three days!

Marmalade may be the alpha-female of my pack but she has a soft heart 🙂

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

They all know the usual commands: sit, stay, come, go away. 

But I taught each one a special trick. 

Marmalade “says please” if she wants me to feed her. (So it is more of a yowl but it is a very specific meow)

Sunsilk “kisses” on command. This is a sweet little touch-nose!

Affie “wipes her paws” on the rug before entering the house. This is an on-command full body shake which she only does on a rug or towel! When she is feeling lazy she’ll shake water all over the hardwood, which I so lovingly clean up. 

Saachi “knocks” on the door. This in retrospect was a bad idea. Every front door to every house we have ever taken her to has some very permanent scratch marks! …Whoops 🙂 

They are all extremely different and they all have their special little ways! 

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

My dogs were well-trained. Heck, my cats were just as well-trained.

I am a veterinary technician and I know how to handle animals.

Even before she heard the word “sit”, I trained Saachi not to jump up on people.

I trained Affie and Saachi not to beg. They lay peacefully under the table.

They sat in the side room, patiently, until their food was prepared and placed on the floor.

All I had to do was point a finger and they knew to leave the room.

One look and they jumped off the bed….

And then…

I went to college.

Let me preface this by saying my family is Bengali. Bengalis spoil their children and if they do not have children, they spoil their pets.

I came home for my first fall holiday…

I was eating a boiled egg when all of a sudden, Affie crawled up my leg, into my lap and stuck her big fat nose in my mouth.

I pushed her off the chair and stared at my dad. What had happened in the short months I had been away??

The next day we took Saachi to the vets. I put her in the back seat of the car. I went to sit in the front passenger seat.

Saachi had other ideas.

She rushed out from the back of the car and tried to push me off the seat!

My dad was chuckling because we were actually wrestling. But let me tell you, if a mastiff does not want you to sit somewhere, chances are, you’re not going to sit there.

However, there was no way I was going to let this dog push me out of the front and make me sit in the back. So, we compromised. She sat on my lap all the way to the vets.

Five years after this occurrence, I have never quite been able to get these dogs as well trained as before. But, they still are my perfect little angels.

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

Imagine nap time at the zoo…

I am sleeping on my side of the bed. Sunsilk and Marmalade are on the other side, one at my head and the other at my feet. Saachi is asleep on the floor beneath them.

Affie feels left out.

She jumps up between the cats and tries to lay down. Sunsilk will have no such thing.

::SMACK::

Poor Affie flies and lands on Marmalade, who is asleep. Marmalade, startled out of her skin, leaps in the air, hits the wall and lands on Saachi.

Saachi wakes up and throws Marmalade off then chases her out of the room.

Affie watches curiously from the safety of the pillow, curls up, and goes to sleep.

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

Wow. Two weeks in and I already messed up my days! I thought yesterday was Thursday so I did not even think to write up my “flashback” post.

Since I am flared up and Marmalade sleeps on my hurting joints I thought it would be fitting to talk about the first time Marmalade “took care” of me.

We had only had her for two months when I got braces. My jaw, mouth and teeth were sore beyond belief. Because of the level of pain, I was insanely light-sensitive. I spent most of the afternoon and evening with my blankets over my head.

Marmalade started to pace up and down the length of my body.

I knew she came from a good place because she was worried about me, but this cat was ridiculous!

She screamed and yowled for a response. I ignored her.

She pawed and scrambled the blankets off my face. I pulled them back over.

Finally, she stopped! YES.

No.

She gave up. But not entirely. She just sat on my face and curled up into a ball.

I know she meant well but 16 pounds of cat fat does not help an aching face!

just lazing around!

Marmalade is an extremely caring cat. Maternal in many ways. I love that she knows what hurts and she sleeps on the exact spot. However, when I am already in pain, it does not make matters much better!

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.

Well, if I’m going to “flashback” I might as well start at the very beginning.

The first day/night we brought Marmalade home is totally engrained in my mind. I have never gotten less sleep in my life.

She was already 1 year old so she was extremely nervous about being in a new home. She sat in the fireplace all day.

My assumption was she would just sleep there during the night. Good assumption? NOPE.

After everyone went to sleep she came out to play. Literally. She barreled into my room and explored. She found a marble and rolled it up and down my wood floor for hours. She wanted to explore the desk so she jumped up on my chair. At the time she did not know what a rolling chair was….

Cat and chair went crashing into the desk. Marmalade, who was extremely startled, ran back to the safety of the fireplace.

Good, I could go back to sleep. But just in case I closed my door. BAD IDEA.

Less than an hour later, this blasted cat was pushing herself against my door and yowling her head off. I grudgingly let her in. It was a lose-lose situation. She has a piercing yowl, I would not be able to sleep with her outside my door. I should have known I would not sleep with her in my room either!

She continued to play with the marble. She kept throwing herself at my closet door until it opened. Once she was inside, she proceeded to throw everything off the dressers and make a nest for herself.

She tried a second time to get up on the rolling chair. This time she succeeded!

She walked across my face and wanted me to pet her.

Then came the moment of truth. She was ready for me to pick her up. One problem: I had never picked up a cat in my life. I tried to pick her up and ended up dropping her on the corner of my wooden trundle bed. Whoops…

She ran back to the safety of her fireplace.

When I told my dad what happened, he laughed and said Marmalade was going to be my cat.

He was right.

Marmalade takes care of me. She stays with me when I am sick or hurt or sad. She protects me (or thinks she does).

I am so lucky this cat found me!

BTW, she is sitting on a very large ceramic baby Jesus…who is wearing an ornante crown

Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.