We were awakened by an early
morning thunder storm. We headed for our safe place in the closet with food,
water, pillows and blankets to camp out until the end of the storm. Tommy seemed better once we got in
there. During one of the loud cracks of
thunder she came close and I just petted her.
While I calmed her down, she started purring and I knew that I’d made
the right decision to move. I’m not sure if she’ll always be afraid of thunder
or will be used to it each year.
After the storm seemed to dissipate
we headed back to bed. As usual I headed to bed and tommy started under the bed
again. We slept in and Tommy didn’t wake
me until after 7:30 A.M. When I tried to pet her as I greeted her she
immediately tried to bite me. I’m not
sure if this was a remnant of yesterday’s activities or she was still unsettled
by the overnight storm. I followed my usual behavior except on the way out of
the bedroom I noticed that she had finished her food, so I did go back for a
moment to fill her dish before leaving again.
Later, when I opened the door,
Tommy came out and talked to me, but I couldn’t tell if it was her scolding
voice or her scared voice. I still confused the two. Since I wasn’t sure I
continued the morning routine and knew that there would be clues to show me how
she felt. Clue #1: Back in the master
suite it didn’t look like she had touched her newly replenished food. Usually
whenever I add food to her dish she at least takes a nibble and moves it
around. Clue #2: When I went to the
bathroom she followed me, went in her litter box, turned around and stuck her
head out. Clue #3: When I finished in the bathroom, including emptying the
litter box, I went to get coffee. After getting a cup, Tommy was stretched out
on the carpet where I couldn’t miss her.
This position always signals that she’d like to be petted. I cautiously petted her until I knew that it
was safe. Clue #4: After what seemed
like an enormous amount of petting, Tommy brought her face up to mine and gave
me a nose kiss. I now knew that all was well and we were both back to normal.
Tommy followed me around, but as I
made the bed she didn’t “help” by jumping on the bed, she instead ate some
food. I went to the study to update
today’s blog and when I went to the living room, Tommy wasn’t there. I started
to open all the blinds and sure enough, out she came to supervise and make sure
that they were raised high enough for her to see out from whatever vantage
point she chose. As I finished, she went
to her scratching post and used it. When I first got her to use the post I
would give her a treat when she used it. Now it’s a signal that she’d like a
treat. Of course the second I headed to the cupboard, there she was waiting to
see if I caught her signal. When I
brought out the treat she said patiently and waited and then devoured it the
second it hit the floor. All was good at condo Tommy/Potter.
I leave to go to a movie and when I
return we have our usual rituals…scolding, treats, petting, and playing. We
spend a quiet afternoon together, but unfortunately I have to leave to go to a
volunteer meeting. I eat a quick dinner and I’m off to the meeting.
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