Saturday, August 13, 2011

Cats are cool



I have two cats.

Baxter, who is a funny "off orange" or "buff" colour, cross-eyed, adorable and the absolute LOVE of my life (sorry Lowell, Bax and I have been together for almost 9 years). Most who have seen us interact would say that I might be the love of Baxter's life too. Or perhaps a close second after his FOOD. Part of Baxter's charm is his completely oblivousness to well, the World. He sleeps on Lowell's bass drum pedal, relaxes during loud rock or jazz music on the stereo, relaxes during LIVE rock or jazz music happening in the same room, etc etc.

My other cat is Eileen. Or Bean, as she is more commonly referred to as. Or Freak or "the other cat". I'm a terrible cat-Mom and blatantly play favourites. This entry is about Eileen though!

Bean has a terrible skittish personality and a tendency to hide in awkward corners and spy on people. She doesn't meow but instead makes horrible squawking sounds or a wailing sound that sounds remarkably like she's saying "NO!!!". Her head is too small for her body that's way too long and skinny. Her eyes are too big for her tiny too small head. She's never been particularly affectionate to me (maybe because I call her "second best cat" or maybe because I had to shove anti-biotics down her throat as a baby cat). Any physical contact I have with Bean involves me chasing her down or sneaking up on her, which is rare and difficult to achieve as she has sniper-cat reflexes. She used to love my ex-boyfriend and warmed up to Lowell quite a bit, to the point where she'd occasionally sit with him and slept by his side at night.

Curiously enough, ever since I've been pregnant, Bean has been extremely vigilant and always at my side. She actually knew I was pregnant before I did. I initially just chalked it up to Lowell being away on his annual Eurotrip. The week he left, she started sitting next to me on the couch and did something that she's NEVER done in her entire life: When I went to bed, SHE approached ME and curled up next to me.... and then climbed up on top of my belly. I thought this was strange but figured it was because she missed the other human.

Starting that week, when I got home, she'd be at the door greeting me even before Baxter. That was weird. When I'd go to the bathroom to take a shower and whatnot, she'd be waiting for me when I came out. When I sat on the couch, she'd sit down on the back of the couch behind my head. The more bizarre thing was every night, when I went to bed or took a nap, she'd come and curl up on or next to my belly.

Later that week, after I took a home pregnancy test and proceeded to sit on the bathroom floor for 20 minutes having a "Holy crap" meltdown, Bean SAT WITH ME ON THE BATHMAT. Actually, she sat and stared at me with a bit of a "Geez lady, way to clue in already...." look in her big beady eyes.

Anyway, I didn't really have a point to this entry. I was just thinking about how strange and amazing it is that animals can sense these things. It's actually getting a bit uncomfortable when Bean tries to balance on my belly when I sleep, and I feel bad when I toss and turn and she goes flying. Lately she's taken to belly-sleeping only when I nap, and sleeping next to my belly when I go to bed at night. I hope she doesn't try to sit on Kittenheart when it gets here.

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