Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Sunday, October 26th – Monday October 27th, 2014: Changes

Tommy seems to be having some trouble lately. She’s begun cowering and running away whenever there’s a noise in the hall or something new.  I moved some boxes and now she doesn’t have access to under the bed. It’s not like she doesn’t have anywhere to go. She just got that new bungalow and there are other safe places around the condo for her.
Under the bed is hard to clean up after her if she throws up or if I need to get her out of the condo in an emergency. After putting the boxes in place, Tommy was not a happy girl. She spent the rest of the morning on the top perch of the bungalow except when there was wet food or she wanted to play.
I left for an historic tour. When I returned Tommy was glad to see me. We had dinner and I tried to play, but she just left the room and went back to her top perch of the bungalow. She stayed there the rest of the night.  I went in a couple times and petted and talked to her.  I decided to watch the second half of the Packer game in the bedroom. Once I got on the bed, Tommy jumped down and went into the living/dining room.
I went out later, but she wasn’t having anything to do with me.  I guess she was still upset about the boxes under the bed. I knew that she’d adapt and forgive me. I just didn’t know when that would happen.
When it was time for bed, Tommy was still in the living room, so I went out, tried to pet her and said good night.  After I turned off eh lights, I could hear Tommy chasing a ball in the living room. It must have been her favorite yellow ball because the pink ball is soft and doesn’t make any noise.  Only time will tell when she’s ready to forgive my transgression.
About 3:00 in the morning, I woke up and heard Tommy eating some of her dry food.  She then came over to the bed and called out. I let her know that it was okay to come up on the bed (like she’d listen if I said no!). She jumped up and came and curled up near my head. It had been a while since she’d done that, so I let her know how happy I was so see her. After she got her share of petting and attention (and I got to hear her purring) she jumped down from the bed and went back up to her perch on the top of the bungalow.
She jumped up again around 5:00 and again curled up near my head, but on the other side. After a few minutes she was off to explore in the living room.  I didn’t hear form her again until she let me know it was time to wake up a little after 7:00.
I took care of her food needs and then got ready to go to class. I hoped that things were better, and I knew that I’d know more when I returned.  When I got home, Tommy was glad to see me and followed me around until I had given her enough attention while I changed clothes ate lunch and completed some work on the computer. She even jumped up on the desk to help. Again this was something that she hadn’t done for a while. It appeared that Tommy was starting to show her confidence again.
After finishing some work I was ready for a nap. I reclined on the sofa. Tommy jumped up on her chair and curled up for a nap. She hadn’t napped on her chair for quite some time, so this was another good sign. We woke up at almost the same time. Tommy jumped down and went into the bedroom. I finished watching a program.
When the program ended I checked the bedroom and there was Tommy curled up on her top shelf sound asleep. I knew that this would be a good time for me to get some work done. Just as I finished the last entry, who should show up, but Tommy ready for some attention and I was ready to give it.
Before we played I noticed that I should have gotten out Tommy’s dinner from the refrigerator to warm up. I went to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator while Tommy followed close behind. As I placed the bowl on the counter, Tommy was leaning up as far as she could practically begging for her meal.
I put it down for her knowing that she wouldn’t eat her dinner when it was so cold. Sure enough, she put her mouth near it, but walked away right toward me to complain. I knew that I wouldn’t hear the end of this, so I put it in the microwave at low power just to get the chill out of it. I put it down again, but it seemed that now it was too warm, so I put it by the open balcony door to let it cool.  Soon we finally had some success and Tommy was eating her dinner.
After dinner, Tommy had her usual nap while I worked. When she woke up she played a little with her “cat dancer,” foil ball and her yellow ball. I went to practice my music. Tommy came under the keyboard and I swear she tried to unplug it again. She finally gave up and let me finish.
When I left the study there was Tommy sitting under the dining table waiting for me to return. When I came out she got up and moved to her rug. I went to close the balcony door since it was getting cooler. Tommy complained, so I went to get the laser pointer. I had barely touched it when Tommy came running.
She knows the sound, and we then spent quite a bit of time with Tommy chasing after the little red dot of light. When she needed a break she would either work on grooming or would roll over on her back which usually meant that she wanted to be petted. After the first time, she changed things up and wanted to swat at my hand.  We went back playing with the laser until she tired and just sprawled out on the rug. When I went to put the laser pointer away, Tommy went and sat by the bedroom door. It looked like someone was ready to sleep or at least take a nap.  I was more than happy to comply. Today had been a good day where we both worked and played together.
Once we entered the bedroom, Tommy changed her mind and decided to go back out to the living room. Now that she had the freedom to choose rooms at night, she was exercising her options. I’m sure that later, she’ll come into the bedroom and sleep up on the top of her bungalow and probably jump up on the bed a few times too.

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