Friday, November 20, 2014

Tommy didn’t wake me until she jumped off the bed at 5:20. It had been a while since I had slept until that time, so it was welcome.  There were only a couple “reminder alarms” by Tommy before the furnace kicked in at 6:45. By now Tommy knew the routine. Since she was on the bed next to me, she jumped down and looked up at me as if to say, “Okay, I’m out of bed, so let’s get crackin’!”

I dutifully got up, served her breakfast and completed the rest of my chores. Since Tommy was getting her nails clipped, I brought out her carrier when I returned with her grass.  She checked out the carrier, but the minute she saw me looking at her would run away from it. I wasn’t sure if she knew where we were going. She likes Stephanie at Petco, so she should be okay.

As I finished getting the condo open for the day, I opened and raised the blinds. Tommy again sought the shelter of the table. It’s funny how she doesn’t like the noise, but also doesn’t like the blinds being closed and down. If I haven’t raised them, she’ll stick her head in between the slats and then complain when her head gets caught. She’s going to have to learn that if she wants the view she’ll have to put up with the noise first.

Tommy decided to play with one of the balls. As she was dribbling it across the room, it knocked against a waste basket and starting spinning. Tommy was intrigued and started dribbling it again when it stopped. I think she was trying to get it to spin again, but hadn’t figured out how she did it. She finally gave up and went to check out what was happening outside.

After finishing her breakfast and having an end to all the excitement of the morning, Tommy sought the solace of her bedroom rug. I went in and petted her as she purred, but as always, she let me know when enough was enough and she was in Greta Garbo mode. (“I want to be alone!) I left and had my own personal morning quiet time.

When it was time to leave for Tommy to get her nails clipped, she let me put on her collar without much of a fuss. She also let me pick her up and put her in the carrier again without too much fuss. This was going much better than expected.

Tommy let me know how much she didn’t like traveling in the elevator or on the freeway, but once we got to Petco, she seemed to calm down. Tommy was a little more squirmy than usual for Stephanie and jumped back in the carrier before she could do the last back paw. Stephanie is so good, she didn’t miss a beat, but just clipped the last nails while Tommy was in the carrier.

The trip home was pretty quiet. At one point I thought that Tommy had gone to sleep she was so quiet, but the occasional meow told me that she was still impatient to get home.  Once home, she let me take off her collar, pet her and give a treat right away. After that it was time for her to chill for a while and enjoy the sunny areas of the condo while I started doing the laundry.

Around 3:00 while working on my grandfather’s diary, Tommy came into the study to check up on me.  She didn’t jump up on the desk like she usually did but just complained until I finally stopped working and went back into the living room.  She didn’t want to be petted and she didn’t want to play. I’m not sure what she wanted, but since the dryer had just ended, we went in to the bedroom and I folded the clothes. Once that was done, Tommy decided to take a nap and I went to get rid of some programs on the DVR.

Every hour or so I went and checked on Tommy to see how see was doing.  If I walked to or from the bathroom without stopping to see her, she would call out and I made sure that I’d stop and pet her and talk to her. She seemed to be wiped out and just wanted to sleep. I know that this had also happened last time she had gotten her nails clipped.

About 6:00 I made another stop to see her and this time I mentioned food, hungry and dinner. She jumped down from the bed and went out to see if there was food. I put her dinner down and she ate much of it then went to take another nap. We again went through the routine of me stopping in to pet and talk to her.

Around 9:00 she came back out and finished her dinner. I did the dishes and then spent some time giving her some more TLC. I noticed that the end of her nose was a little redder and wetter than normal. I wasn’t sure if it was from the colder weather or she had picked up some cat bug.

She wanted to rest so I figured that she knew what was best for her. She went to sit on her rug. I tried to get her to play, but she wasn’t ready to participate. I decided to wait her out and try again later.

Sure enough after a while Tommy decided that it was time to play. She didn’t want the worm, but instead we played with the fleece teaser. At one point, Tommy stopped playing and went and sat on her rug. I mentioned that if she was done, I was going to bed, so if she wanted to keep playing, she should keep playing. Wouldn’t you know it, Tommy started playing again. I’m not sure if it was my tone (not stern or harsh, just informative) or she just happened to have taken a short break, but she always seems to understand what I’m saying.

We played for quite a while, but then both of us knew that we were played out. I got everything ready for the night while Tommy watched. She came in the room and watched me get into bed. After I was in bed, she headed back out to the living room. I knew that soon she’d be back and asleep on the bed.