Can there possibly be a more neurotic cat on the planet than Jingle B. Meyers? I don't think so. Here is a typical morning in my household since I have become unemployed. I wake up and walk downstairs with two cats leading they way. They race each other downstairs to see which one can be the first to the kitchen and food. I pick up their empty food dishes left on the floor from their last meal the evening before and wash them both thoroughly. Shiner jumps on the counter so that he can be sure and get his food first. Then I fill their dishes with fresh catfood. Shiner starts eating his on the counter because he is entitled. Jingle casually meanders to some obscure spot in the house and sits quietly waiting for me to seek him out and bring his food to him. I believe that he does this to test my love. If I really love him, I will search the house leaving no stone left un-turned until I find him and make sure that he gets the nourishment that he so deserves.
Once I have fed both of them, I make my coffee, open Jingle's favorite window (because sitting and staring out of it if it is closed sucks!), open the patio door for Shiner and open the door to the garage for both of them. The reason that the door to the garage is opened is that there is a litter box out there. I leave the window and doors opened until I at least finish my blog sometimes later depending on the outside temperature.
I do all of this for my cats each morning because I love them but also because Jingle is Burmese. I don't know if you have ever experienced a Burmese cat before. If you haven't let me just clue you in. They descend from Siamese cats. Do you know that remarkably loud annoying and incessant meow that a Siamese cat has? The one that sounds like a small child whining at a fever pitch? Burmese cats were blessed with that trait from the Siamese. When they want anything they attempt to communicate with their human by changing the pitch and length of that horrible blood curdling meow.
I told you previously about how Jingle moves framed pictures and my framed Bob Hope autograph around on the walls while meowing when he wants something. Then when I finally get up and follow him he leads me to wherever it is he wants me to go. This really happens everyday.
Most days, there is a legitimate reason for his doing this. Yesterday my neurotic cat reached an all time low. Even for him. He threw his fit, stood on the printer, moved the Bob Hope autograph and would not stop. All of the doors were opened that are supposed to be. The window was open. Everything seemed as it should be. When I finally followed him he ran at lightening speed out to the garage. I looked out the door and he stopped when I did and came back to get me to ensure that I would go all the way out into the garage. Once he was sure that I was all the way outside, he went to the litter box and peed! When he was done peeing I may have cursed him slightly and started to walk back in the house, but he came back and got me. He stood between me and door and meowed. So, I turned back around, he went back to the litter box and pooped! Once he was done, he casually walked past me back into the house!!!!!! This was possible because I was in a state of shock! Seriously, he requires an audience now to use the litter box????!?!?!? This is out of control!
I don't even think that I was so shocked by the fact that he wants me to watch him use the litter box. I think the most shocking part of it is that I did! I mean seriously, I am totally manipulated by an eleven pound fuzzy four legged creature. Sometimes, I am really amazed by how smart he is. I'm kind of proud when he communicates something to me and I figure out what he was trying to "say". But most of the time, I think exactly what I thought yesterday morning, which is, "did I really just let him manipulate me like that????" It makes me feel wronged!
Meanwhile, sweet little Shiner just keeps being a regular old mutt cat. He is sort of lanky and usually has a little bit of a dumb look on his face. He reminds me of that dumb sheep dog from the Loony Tunes cartoon that always said "Which way did they go George... which way did they go?" That's Shiner. He's just a big, dumb, lovable, cat who demands nothing from you but love and two to three meals a day. Don't get me wrong. I love them both. But sometimes I think Jingle is taking advantage of me and it worries me that I am allowing a cat to do that.
Something interesting has happened since I lost my job. I think that somehow my staying home with the cats has made Jingle more sociable when other people are here. He has always been all over me and loves his Nana and Papa. But lately when someone else comes over, he immediately comes to see them. He walks up to them and expects to be petted. He never used to do this. He has always been pretty shy. Shiner, on the other hand, has never met a stranger. The only people he has a problem with are the ones who refuse to pet him either because they are allergic to him or they just don't like cats. With them, he has to be extra persistent rubbing his head against the palm of their hand to get the attention that he so deserves. He is a little put out with them when they start that annoying sneezing while they pet him. But he can live with it.
I am going to get my day started now. I think I will begin by writing for a few hours and then cleaning downstairs and finishing laundry. Yesterday and Friday at the pool were really nice. Who knows maybe I'll go back out there after I finish cleaning this afternoon for a reward. Have a great Sunday!
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