Jessica's Blog

Last November, I was beyond a full plate here at home.  I was honestly just overwhelmed in my own home.  Something had to give.  That something was giving Max (aka fatty booombalatty fatty Max -catty) and Cleo (aka Cleo-Leo Meeeooooweerrrr).  Max and Cleo were booted from our home to go live with my mom in San Francisco.

My mom willingly took them in despite the fact that she has a small apartment, immense strains on her time, and.. well... a propensity to step and/or trip on anything that isn't as tall as she is.  She loaded them and their accouterments into her CR-V and I breathed a sigh of relief of not 1)cleaning up cat hair 2) tripping on them in the night while putting babe down 3) not hearing them meoowwwr "just to say hello" 4) not climbing all over me the moment I had my body to myself.  It was blessing.  I found my legs again.

Sadly, my mom kind of lost one of hers.  She tripped on Cleo in the night just a week or so after taking the cats in, and broke her ankle, thus requiring surgery and an extended stay in our home .  She also fell madly in love with the cats and would often say we were never going to get them back.  I would cringe inside when she would say this.  The kids would then beg to get the cats back.

The grandkids started to cry and moan and miss the cats.  They didn't forget about them like folks would think kids would.  I started to miss the cats.  It had been 7 months.  It was time for them to come home.  I made the call and the kids (on speakerphone) told Grandma their wish.

Mom cried for a day.

The kitties came home on Saturday after a visit to Grandma's apartment in the city an my favorite meal form childhood:  Tater Tot casserole!  Nummy!

It is as if they never left.  Dog and cats picked up right where they left off with Max walking under the dog and between the dog's legs to trip the dog going down the stairs.  I woke last night to a teeny little Cleo curled up in the crook of my arm like always, and to the sound of one of them quietly calling to the other in the night in the house;  not full blown MEOWS, but their quiet chirpy "mmer---er???" s they do. The sound is like overblown purrs in a game of kitty cat  Marco-Polo.

Max interrupted my housecleaning routine this evening to voice a concern as to the placement of his food dish, and would I MIND giving him a lift to that unseemly high height?  I mean c'mon; at Grandma's house the food was at floor level and readily available every day at 6PM.  While here at home, the food is up away from curious toddler reach and it's Science Diet indoor "mature" cat formula?!?!?!?  WTF!?!?!?!?!?  To add insult to injury, it will now be BIg Boy's job to feed him?  Good God, what's an old cat to do?!?!

Big Boy is taking on a greater care provider role with them, and they seem to acknowledge his added maturity.  They are trying to give Honey Girl a chance again.  They allow Little lady to pet them, but then seem to study her with a look of, "Great, we get to train another one."  This evening at bedtime I got quite the chuckle watching Big Boy and Honey Girl attempting to "help" Max (at 17-18 pounds) over the baby gate at the top of the stairs.  Big Boy groaning under the weight and Honey Girl running to hoist up his back end while still trying to open the gate (as the fatty was refusing to jump spryly over the gate). I couldn't help because I was changing Little Lady into jammies.

Who needs tv?

Both cats put on some weight while at Grandma's.  Understandable.  smaller space, no one chasing them, no one hollering at them to get out of the way.  Not one begging them to play.  No one forgetting to feed/water them.  No diet food.  They had the koosh indoor cat life, fo' sho'.

Little Lady is the child in the house truly taken aback by this sudden addition (in her eyes).  She looks from one cat to the other in pure wonder and delight, following them around slowly and carefully, petting them oh-so-gently and quietly smiling back at us saying "ka?", then looking at Buck and saying, "Buh-duh!" (for Buck-dog).  This evening, she was petting one cat when the other came down the stairs and she seemed truly shocked... there are two of them?  They look just the same!

Thank you , Mom for taking such excellent care of the kitties.  I'm sorry it broke your heart to give them back.  They seem happy to be home.  I am thrilled to have them back.