Dec. 09, 2014 - 6:05 p.m.

Lost Cat

I knew Casey's death was gonna flatten me. And it didn't surprise me that, if anything, NewWifey(tm) would be hit even harder. I go to bed hours before her, then am away at work 10+ hours a day. Since we live in such a remote area, with few friends, it meant that most days NewWifey(tm) saw Casey more than she saw me. For years. He was her confidant, pinochle partner, drinking buddy, and sometimes pillow. So yeah, I'm not surprised she was inconsolable.

What I was surprised by was how badly the cat is taking this.

Aren't cats supposed to be indifferent to any living being that's not itself? Wasn't the word "aloof" originally coined to describe them? Wasn't the yawn invented by cats?

Whatever. If all that is true, Gloria the Liquid Cat is the exception to the rule. For the past several days she has been pacing from room to room, stopping at all the places Casey used to plop down, his food bowl corner, his toy bin, his sleep crate. She looks around, sniffs, then moves to the next spot where she might normally see him. After a full round of the house she starts again. Every now and then she comes up to one of us and meows. She never meows.

Yesterday she went out on the back porch and sat looking out over his pen for an hour in the rain waiting for him to come trotting back up his ramp like he used to do every morning. I finally went out and gently carried her back inside. She meowed and trotted right back to the cat door to try to continue her vigil, but I blocked it off ahead of her.

I guess when pussy gets attached to you, it doesn't matter what species it is. They're all alike.

Ok, enough dwelling and moping. At least as far as diary entries go. It's out of my system.

But I do want to thank all of you who left such thoughtful expressions of condolence in my Notes section. They meant a lot to me. As did the personal e-mails many of you sent. Despite what I may have written about you previously, you're alright. Yes, you.

Now if you'll excuse me, there's a certain pussy that's demanding attention again.

I'm not telling you which one.

Ciao!

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