We've been over this piece before, about how cats have a wide range of emotions, one of which is anger. Sometimes their anger is predictable, like when you cut their nails, or you take them to the vet. Sometimes it's less so. Like when you're sitting there on the couch, absentmindedly rubbing the back of your head on Mister, and he bites you on the head. Twice.
No real reason. Might have been that Otto was getting on his nerves. Might have been he had a little tummy-ache. But for whatever reason, Mister did not want to have my head rubbing on him at that very moment. Tonight, like almost every other night, he might be fine with it. (I might not push it, though.)
Or take Wanda, for example. For weeks now, Wanda's been avoiding me. She ignores me when I walk into a room. She no longer yells at me to go to bed, then snuggles in her special place under my right underarm when I finally comply. So Wednesday night, when she ignored me again in favor of Sean, I finally said in utter frustration, "Wanda, I have no idea what I did to make you so mad, but please accept my apology. I'm really sorry for whatever I did. Please forgive me."
She looked at me with an expression of assessment for a second. Then she crawled under the open blanket I offered her and snuggled up to me. No, really. For weeks, I've been treated like an Untouchable, then as soon as I apologized, suddenly all was forgiven. I know you think I'm making this up, but Sean was right there and he saw and heard the whole thing, too.
She's lying beside me on the couch as I type this. She slept with me last night, in her regular place. Then, this morning, we snuggled for a long time with her between my two arms, her alternately purring and snoring. Every time I've sat down, I've either had Otto, Wanda, or both curled up right beside or on me. I may never know what ticked her off so much.
I have a few ideas, though. It might have been because I haven't been able to cuddle with her as much recently on the weekends, since I was getting up early to go train for the marathon I completed earlier this month. It might have been that she overheard me when I told Sean it looked like she might have been putting on a few pounds. But I don't think it's either one of those things. I think it's that I've been giving Otto more attention lately, mostly because he's been asking for it. He seems to have been craving Big Buddy Girl energy a lot recently, and coincidentally, Wanda hasn't seemed to like him very much lately, either. Otto's gotten his flank bitten more often than usual, and last weekend while doing laundry, Wanda started World War Three on the bed and triumphantly hovered above him afterward once she sent him packing. I think Wanda's been jealous. But I also know that Wanda is way too proud to admit such petty human emotions as jealousy. Anger is really more her style.
All I know is that I'm glad to finally be back in her good graces again, no matter what it was that got me out of them. When Wanda is out of sorts, it's no fun for anyone in the household, least of all me. Wanda is one of my best friends, so I'm glad that we're back to being best friends once again.
An interesting postscript: I'm still typing on the couch, and Mister is sitting behind me on the top of the couch. He is purring, and just a second ago, he took his head and rubbed it repeatedly on the top of my shoulder, so I could turn around and kiss him on his cheek. I think he's offering me an apology, too. Cat's can feel penitent too, you know.
You know, if there's a lesson to be learned by all of this, and I believe there is, it is that cats, at their core, are extremely sensitive beings. I think I'm being silly when I joke about Wanda's expanding girth, or being a good Big Buddy to Otto when he seems to need me. But I can't forget that these guys all have feelings, too, and they understand WAY more English than we sometimes realize. Oftentimes, scarily so. I have to continuously treat them with the love and respect I would treat any other member of my family, and recognize that if Otto's getting attention, I'd better be finding some way to make sure Wanda knows she's still loved, and that she's still my bestest Buddy Girl. I owe her that. I owe them all that. We all owe them at least that much.
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