Cat

Just finished feeding the cat--and considering she weighs about 15 pounds, that is no little task! Actually, she gets fed only once a day, so her weight can only be attributed to: 1) she comes from a family of big cats (brother weighs 20+ pounds), 2) she has a lot of very heavy fur, 3) she has been weight training--and we all know muscle weighs more than fat! The real reason, though, is that she is a cat couch potato. Her only reason for breathing is so she can eat, sleep, use the litter, and run through the house, once a day, like the hounds of hell are after her. Considering she sheds a pound of fur every day and hacks up fur balls on a regular basis, it isn't always easy to understand why she still takes up space in our home. Even though she isn't always a joy to have around, we still love her. We have had her for over ten years and consider her a member of the family. As she has gotten older, she is actually becoming more of a people cat--she will stay with us most of the time we are awake. She vocalizes more than she ever did and will come to be pet. She still isn't a lap baby, but with her weight that probably is a good thing.

Anyway, back to my original idea for writing. Most of the time I try to feed the cat on the sly--if she is in the kitchen when I do the job of feeding her, she is always in the way. It doesn't matter which way I turn, where I walk, how I move, she is ALWAYS under my feet. One of these days I am not going to notice her (not easy to not notice a 15 pound cat) and will trip, fall, and break my leg. Hopefully I won't fall on her because then, surely, she will be dead. So, I try to wash, dry, fill, and place her food and water dishes without her in the room. And this is something I can't accomplish. I only wish I had the hearing ability she does--I could have a brass band playing "76 Trombones" as loudly as possible and she would hear me lift her dishes off of the floor and come running. It is truly amazing to me.