Mei Mei woke me up at 5 a.m. last week when she tried to stuff her 10-pound butterball self, rump first, into the box of tissues on my nightstand. I couldn’t stop laughing, and that woke my husband up as well. He also couldn’t stop laughing.
Of course, if I’d woken him up by laughing at something I’d been thinking about, or by knocking over the box of tissues myself, he wouldn’t have been so amused. And that got me thinking about how cats seem to make everything better.
For example, when my husband snores, I poke him – repeatedly – until he turns over. But when Mei Mei snores (almost as loud as my husband!), I think it’s adorable. My strongest reaction might be to kiss the top of her head.
When Yang Yang wanders around the house whining that he’s vaguely unsatisfied, but doesn’t really know what he wants, I rush to offer him cuddles, several types of food, toys and catnip. When my nephews do the same thing, I suggest they figure out what they want and call me when they do.
When Mei Mei wants me to move over in bed in the middle of the night so she can stretch out next to me, I do it because I love to have her there. When Yang Yang wants me to sit up on the couch instead of lying on it, so he can curl up in a ball against his favorite sofa pillow, I sit up happily and scratch him between the ears while he sleeps next to me. Honestly, I doubt I’d do either of these things for my husband. And it’s not likely he would do them for me.
What is it about cats that compel us to sit up, wake up and put up with everything they want? If you think you know the answer, e-mail me and let me know.
katz_pjs@yahoo.com