The Cat

Ah, Moses. Lately, he has taken to sleeping underneath Will's crib. It's quiet, dark and secluded so I can see why he likes it. I didn't figure this out for a few days though, so he's napped with Will a few times. He doesn't usually make any noise in there and thankfully stays under the bed instead of joining Will in the crib. But, I've caught on to his game and now I have to check under the bed before putting Will to sleep at night. Will of course loves to peek at him under the crib. Will still finds the cat fascinating and approaches him out of curiosity and amusement whereas Matthew finds him annoying, a nuisance and on occasion good for a laugh. I suppose I have similar feelings toward Moses.

Moses is a reminder of our life before children. He came into my life at a time when I was far from home, newly married, jobless, and lonesome for some companionship. Of course I had my wonderful husband with me but he was either in class or studying his numerous drug handbooks & glucagon molecules or working. I got Moses shortly after our first Christmas together as a married couple, and he was a delightful companion. Steven graduated from pharmacy school and we made the pilgrimage from Amarillo back to Austin. I happened to have the cat in the car with me on the drive down. He sat at my feet and howled the entire way. All 10 hours or however long it took us with that U-Haul. I'm not sure that cat was ever the same.

Our lives have changed quite a bit since those seemingly simple days in Amarillo. The cat used to like me but now he has some evil plot against me. I get attacked out of nowhere. All I have to do is walk across the room and he charges at me typically sinking his teeth into my calf. If he wasn't so heavy I'd kick him across the room. I'm not sure that William has even outgrown the cat yet. Moses has done irreperable damage to our furniture with his claws. I find his hair and litter from his box all over the house and it makes me crazy. I sweep my floor multiple times a day--Steven thinks I'm insane. He howls at us from outside our door in the morning demanding food even if there's some left in his bowl from the day before. He eats grass when he's outside and then vomits it up once he comes inside. I feel like he is forever underfoot as well. He always seems to be somewhere that I don't want him to be. And moving him is no easy task. Neither is cutting his nails. And if either Steven or I are sitting on the couch or chair in the living room he comes and sleeps on one of us; usually Steven. You're probably asking yourself if I even like this cat anymore.

Well...we're definitely sure that this will be our last pet for many, many years. There are many days when I feel that if the cat wandered off outside never to return I'd totally be okay with that. As much as that cat tortures me with all his idiotic behaviors, at the end of the day he is still part of this family. That's why I'll still scratch his little head when he's desperately seeking affection. He receives discipline like the other children in our house, but somehow after 8+ years of life he hasn't learned anything. Oh right, he's a cat.