Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Monday, August 4, 2014: I am the Tommy (Cat) Whisperer

Someone woke up in a crabby mood. Tommy woke up several times during the night. I think it had something to do with the HVAC unit. We haven’t used the air conditioning much, but last night was very humid, so I closed all the windows and turned the AC on.  Since I was going to have some alone time, I worked in the study for a while.
Later I learned the error of my ways. Tommy didn’t appreciate being left alone and spent a good portion of the early morning shunning my futile attempts at giving her affection. She spent quite some time on my pile of shorts on the table and I left her there until I needed to iron them while it was still cool inside the condo.
Tommy has a sixth sense. When I got out the ironing board she got off the shorts and moved to the dining room chair that she sometimes occupies. I finished the ironing and took a break. During that time Tommy would come up to me and want some petting and attention, but after a few minutes she would get into biting mode again.  I didn’t know what to do.
For some reason I just started whispering to her instead of my usual soft voice when I pet her. Her paws/claws drew closer together and she calmed down and didn’t want to bite me; she just let me pet her chest, neck, back, and head. Since I was on a roll, I decided to go all out and vacuum the condo.
Tommy usually sees the vacuum and heads for under the bed until I move the vacuum into the bedroom and then she heads for the living room. Today she stayed in the entrance to the bedroom and watched me toil away.  When I got within about six feet she finally headed to the bedroom.  When I brought the vacuum into the bedroom (turned off, of course) she wasn’t leaving from under the bed.  No amount of coaxing worked until I put both sides of the dust ruffle up and whispered that it was time to move. Off she went to the living room and I was able to finish.
The rest of the afternoon Tommy spent near me. I think she could tell that I was going to be leaving again for a while.  We played for quite a while with her fleece strip teaser. She then played with her mouse and rat while I got ready to go to a birthday celebration.
When I returned, of course I was scolded, but it didn’t last very long. I petted Tommy and talked to her. Then we played and headed for the bedroom to watch the news and go to bed.  All in all, it was a good day. I can’t believe that tomorrow it will be one month since Tommy came to live with me.

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