I always thought that it would strike the humans in our household first. Carroll and I have recently down-sized to a smaller apartment, not anywhere near the size that we were used to living in. But, after six weeks of moving things around, finding innovative ways to store things, and just plain old ditching stuff I think that we've made it a home. The cat, Jade, on the other hand has other ideas.
Jade and I have always had a relationship at a distance. I call him names and he stays at a distance. I don't yell at him, unless he's caterwauling at four in the morning. Maybe a pillow heaved in his general direction, but there is no anger or animosity towards him. I've tried to pet him and sometimes he'll attempt to let me.
Picture this: He's within three feet of me and I call him. He feigns indifference while wandering in my direction and then, still inches from my fingertips, he drops to the floor and rolls over expecting me to cover the remaining distance. Fat Chance!
As the weather get warmer (yes, I live in Texas and it will be seventy-five degrees in the middle of February,) we like to leave the doors and windows open. Of the two doors, only one has a screen on it. In the past, we've never had a problem with him wanting to leave the house, but the first night we had a little scare because he disappeared. We found him okay, but it took us about five minutes. Just the other day, Carroll had to chase him again, even after she yelled at him to stop. Did not listen and even ran from her. Totally out of his character. Today, he tried to sneak past me. I sit at a desk right by the back door, so he has to get pretty close to me. I caught him out of the corner of my eye, slinking along. I turned and moved toward him and instead of running away, he kept moving forward. He doesn't seem to fear me. That's a bummer.
I can only speculate as to why the change. The apartment is too small, he's old and senile (11 years old or so), the abundance of smells on the sidewalk that runs by our patio, or the ample amounts of wildlife out our backdoor. Who knows?
Ooops, there he goes again!
