I usually call Sunsilk stupid because she’s not all that smart. But, honestly, she is not stupid; she is very very intelligent. She is better trained than all the other pets put together.
Unfortunately for her, she is devoid of common sense. For example, she eats anything she can get her little paws on. I raised my trashcans because she loved going through it at night and bringing me presents. She even eats Affie’s fur after I shave her!
Oh, you may say, “that is not common sense, Monica! That is just a cat being a cat!” Wait…there’s more. Sunsilk also sticks her whiskers in electrical outlets. I am not sure she does this on purpose but whenever she’s near a wall her whiskers make their way into an socket.
But, here’s the real story.
A few years ago, I got home and I called her. She was on the upper level nosing around when she heard me. The upper floor has a balcony that looks over the living area on the main one.
She excitedly looked through the bars and tried to jump off the balcony to get to me! The stairs were right next to her but no, it made more sense to jump 20 feet!
Thankfully, I managed to distract her while simultaneously running upstairs to grab her so she didn’t fall to her death. And, yes, she would have fallen to her death. Sunsilk is half Abyssinian and was cursed with the too tall back legs which make her rather unbalanced. She knocks over lamps and Christmas trees and sometimes just trips over her own four feet.
But, I guess, I still love her.
Hi, my name is Monica and I have RA.
Actually, one of the veterinary technicians I worked with owned Marmalade (known as Samantha (ick!)) but she moved away to an apartment where she couldn’t keep pets. This all happened around the same time my mother passed away so it really was fate that Marmalade landed in our lives.
It’s weird to think she could have been someone else’s cat. I don’t think she would have been as wonderful with someone else. When I take a nap, she protects me by screaming and slapping anyone who tries to wake me up. When I’m ill she does not leave my side. She actually follows me around at my heels, which may or may not be a good thing as I constantly trip over her. If I’m bed-ridden she either sleeps by my side or stands guard outside my door. If I move or yawn she comes running to me, sits on my lap and stares at me to make sure I’m not on Death’s door. She won’t eat or drink or use the litter box until I’m asleep and immediately returns so I don’t miss her.
There are many beliefs about why they do this.
the Rite of Aging...early 