I had been told that the training procedure with cats was difficult. It's not. Mine had me trained in two days. ~Bill Dana
You have not been welcomed home until you've been welcomed home by a cat. When Iss is depressed he curls up small & his ears go down. Happy he sprawls with his ears constantly pricked listening for my least step about the house. He always knows exactly where I am & what I am doing & is there in a flash if he thinks I need protecting from something.
He does not like it when I go away. Dearest pays for my absence & frets constantly that the cat is fretting. I come home & Issi waits to see if I remember him. He has an anxious evening waiting to see if I remember the routine or if he will be forgotten in the muddle of coming home to a house that has been inhabited by males who don't actually live here any more. [A sink full of dishes & 3 loads of washing but nary a lad in sight].
There is a satisfied sigh when I finally scoop him up to take him up to bed. Now this cat didn't even know he had legs until he was about 6 months old because Ditz carried him absolutely everywhere, even tucked under her arm while she played soccer. Not many cats would have tolerated that but Issi will put up with most things if it means he's with his people. I did think he was a bit short the full quid for a while but nah, he's just one of those cats wired for people.
Scooping Iss up for bed is his cue for a deep & rumbling purr to begin. Iss is supposed to sleep at the foot of our bed between Dearest & I but after I've been away he invariably slinks up the bed, wriggles onto my chest & lays his head over my heart. A paw reaches out to fold over my hand or both paws cup around my hand. This is not comfortable for either of us & sooner of later he shifts, in stages, down my body to where he belongs but all night long I wake to him gently patting my foot. Yep, he's one odd cat but the gentlest of pussies.
Now people who have dogs like to tell me what good companions they make ~ better than cats. They haven't met my cats. Iss is notorious for following me about so closely he's constantly in danger of being trodden on. He's company while I garden, keeping a watchful eye out for snakes & birds. He joins me to mark our territory by raking up all the leaves & on a cold winter's night is an excellent hot water bottle. He will even come on walks though we stay away from roads & for a quick game of tag or *knuckles* there is no~one better.
OK, the cat's spoilt rotten & completely neurotic [& he wasn't even mine to begin with but seeing as his owner took off to sea & *forgot* to send the necessary money for the unkindest cut he became mine by default.] I have never seen an animal plunge so quickly or so far into depression as Iss did when I took him over to the vet's for his little operation. It was heart rending & nothing anybody could do for him made it any better. When I arrived back that afternoon to bring him home again he began a loud & rumbling purr that went non stop for 3 whole days! Seriously, you could hear him all over the house.
My mother has a cat too ~ an energetic & enquiring soul called Pixie who gets fussed over by the entire village & is something of a peeking tom. She is a well regulated puss who is only allowed outside under strict supervision though she has been known to slip mum's eagle eye & go snooping through the neighbour's yards & peeking in their windows. More than one old dear, lying down for a well earned rest, has been startled to find a furry face sporting a fine set of whiskers peering over the windowsill at them. Pixie too is mum's by default. Dad bought her & she was very much my father's cat; one reason she's so incredibly neurotic. Mum took dad away & never brought him home again. Not mum's fault but the cat's never forgiven her.
There is a point to this rather rambling post. You see Dino has plans to head back out to sea on the Gulf trawlers after prawns. Issi began as Dino's though Dino has had the good sense not to acquire another animal when he inevitably spends so much time at sea. Now Theo is going with Dino. Both my boys will be at sea. They aim to be on the same boat so they can watch each others backs & work well as a team but Theo has lived away from home for the best part of 12 months & I am wondering what he's acquired that I am meant to find a home for. Cats are easy compared to some of the things I can think of. If anything should happen smelly old sneakers are not quite as comforting as a furry friend.
I truly hate my boys being at sea but it is very good money & there is nowhere to spend any of it. They have plans & have matured ahead of their friends. They want to do things besides party each weekend & a couple of seasons on the trawlers will achieve their ends fast. Truly. There is no rent. There is no utilities to pay for. No car; no car registration; no petrol costs. Food is supplied in abundance by the boat company. They don't need flash clothing or expensive shoes. In short every cent they earn ends up in their pockets. Dino already owns a block of land outright. He wants to build on it. Theo is in the same process & far more motivated because he has a serious girlfriend. Dino has never wanted to do anything but fish. Theo is less keen on being so dirty & smelly but hey, he likes to live well.
The season opens in March. Each week I will compose an epistle that will wend it's way up a coast presently unhappily waterlogged by the latest cyclone & across the top end to whichever outpost supplies the trawlers. Knowing my boys I won't hear anything back too often but that's ok. Iss knows my every mood & any time I get too fraught or anxious, if I'm particularly sad or unhappy, he climbs into my lap, lays his head over my heart & begins to purr. It's not quite the same thing but it will do in a pinch.
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