For all but the last three years of my very long life, I was pretty much devoid of any experience of any pets except a slight acquaintance with two cats belonging to a friend, neither of whom seem to behave like my companion. Then I moved to a small gated estate that is a pussy paradise (no road, no children, large garden and wooded areas, mice and squirrels for hunting). It is a haven for urban wild and more domesticated life, as well as older humans.
A cat walked into my existence there after I'd been there a few months. Her history is that she came to the estate as a stray kitten and had lived there ever since, far longer than any of the human residents and possibly as long as 18 years. From information I've pieced together she spent much of her life as tame stray, occasionally being adopted by one of the residents. As everyone here is over 55, inevitably, she has had a couple of adoptive parents die on her and then she would go back to being a stray until she'd persuaded someone else to give her indoor accommodation. She is very well known and liked by many of the residents, some of whom, let her visit for naps and snacks. She seems pretty much at ease with her life.
However, I feel the need to understand Thingy (as I call her) much better than I do and she is the least aggressive of animals (she has never stuck out a claw in anger), with a sweet but grumpy old woman's disposition. She seems very attached to me, often following me round the small estate. My neighbours laugh at my having a feline shadow.
Now this is where my queries come in:
Thingy will come and sit at my feet and stare at me, then she starts shouting at me, sometimes incessantly. First I check that her food bowl may be empty (I don't force her to have regular meal times - she's not a greedy cat and she's happiest just visiting the food bowl regularly for a few mouthfuls at a time plus the vet has instructed that he's happy that she should eat as much as she wants - she's old, spends a good bit of the day outdoors and suffers from hyperthyroidism and was seriously underweight when I took her on). If she has food but shows no interest, I'll try the back door (we are not allowed cat flaps) and see if she wants to go out. Sometimes she does, sometimes not.
7 times out of 10 I guess right but occasionally I find that she gets me to follow her to her food bowl, only for me to find it has food in and it's only when she's happy that I am with her that she'll tuck into the food. It's got to the stage that sometimes she'll get it into her head to find me whichever room I'm in, whatever I'm doing and she'll shout at me repeatedly, touching my leg with her paw for reinforcement until I start to follow her. She'll then lead the way, pausing every few steps to look over her shoulder to check that I'm still there and this odd little procession will land up either at her food bowl or the back door or, occasionally, at one of my sofas, the one on which I usually sit. If it's the sofa, most of the time she won't get up on it unless I invite her by tapping on the seat but she'll keep shouting until she gets the invitation. Then we sometimes go through more shouting until she gets what I'm guessing she wants which is to get up onto me for a cuddle and a sleep. This need to have me in tow doesn't happen every time. Much of the time, she'll happily wander into the kitchen on her own and eat or wander away from me to one of her several chosen "nests" in the apartment.
Is this normal? I don't mind being her slave, really I don't, although I don't immediately jump to her command and I try to put a little structure in her life like her food and water bowls have one major refill each evening (as she eats dry food, this seems to be about right). In the mornings, after Thingy's had a snack, I encourage her to go out for a few hours into the gardens - it's her favourite place and I think it's important for her to retain some of her outdoor cat habits.
I just want to understand better what she's thinking and expecting, how I can understand her different calls. Can some of you help me with some cat psychology.
Some minor things now:
Why, when she has a water bowl indoors which she is happy to drink from, does she make a bee-line, when I let her out, for the bowl I put in the rose bed for her, which leaves and other bits of garden detritus fall into and make definitely manky?
What is her decision making process when going to lie down? Why does she tend to go round in circles before actually settling down? Why does she sometimes want to climb up me so that she can settle down near my face but, other times, she lies at my feet or decides, in spite of her apparent need to keep me close, to go and sit at the other end of the sitting room on another sofa or on the floor?
Why does she sometimes just stare at me? We can both be sitting comfortably and out of the blue she'll just turn and stare and just keep on staring.
Does the fact that she wants to check out all food that I'm eating it by sniffing it mean she thinks of me as an alpha cat feeding her kitten or that she's the alpha cat and I may be "stealing" food she thinks she may be entitled to? It's not a problem - I just want to understand better.
Is the fact that she behaves like a complete tart towards men a pheromone thing or is it that until me she had male residents caring for her?
I love Thingy to bits and she obviously identifies with me and my apartment as home but I do want to understand cats better so I can make things as comfortable for her as I can. When she adopted me, I promised that after the uncertain existence she has had in her long life, I was going to make however long she has left as the happiest time in her life. Can you help me, please?
A cat walked into my existence there after I'd been there a few months. Her history is that she came to the estate as a stray kitten and had lived there ever since, far longer than any of the human residents and possibly as long as 18 years. From information I've pieced together she spent much of her life as tame stray, occasionally being adopted by one of the residents. As everyone here is over 55, inevitably, she has had a couple of adoptive parents die on her and then she would go back to being a stray until she'd persuaded someone else to give her indoor accommodation. She is very well known and liked by many of the residents, some of whom, let her visit for naps and snacks. She seems pretty much at ease with her life.
However, I feel the need to understand Thingy (as I call her) much better than I do and she is the least aggressive of animals (she has never stuck out a claw in anger), with a sweet but grumpy old woman's disposition. She seems very attached to me, often following me round the small estate. My neighbours laugh at my having a feline shadow.
Now this is where my queries come in:
Thingy will come and sit at my feet and stare at me, then she starts shouting at me, sometimes incessantly. First I check that her food bowl may be empty (I don't force her to have regular meal times - she's not a greedy cat and she's happiest just visiting the food bowl regularly for a few mouthfuls at a time plus the vet has instructed that he's happy that she should eat as much as she wants - she's old, spends a good bit of the day outdoors and suffers from hyperthyroidism and was seriously underweight when I took her on). If she has food but shows no interest, I'll try the back door (we are not allowed cat flaps) and see if she wants to go out. Sometimes she does, sometimes not.
7 times out of 10 I guess right but occasionally I find that she gets me to follow her to her food bowl, only for me to find it has food in and it's only when she's happy that I am with her that she'll tuck into the food. It's got to the stage that sometimes she'll get it into her head to find me whichever room I'm in, whatever I'm doing and she'll shout at me repeatedly, touching my leg with her paw for reinforcement until I start to follow her. She'll then lead the way, pausing every few steps to look over her shoulder to check that I'm still there and this odd little procession will land up either at her food bowl or the back door or, occasionally, at one of my sofas, the one on which I usually sit. If it's the sofa, most of the time she won't get up on it unless I invite her by tapping on the seat but she'll keep shouting until she gets the invitation. Then we sometimes go through more shouting until she gets what I'm guessing she wants which is to get up onto me for a cuddle and a sleep. This need to have me in tow doesn't happen every time. Much of the time, she'll happily wander into the kitchen on her own and eat or wander away from me to one of her several chosen "nests" in the apartment.
Is this normal? I don't mind being her slave, really I don't, although I don't immediately jump to her command and I try to put a little structure in her life like her food and water bowls have one major refill each evening (as she eats dry food, this seems to be about right). In the mornings, after Thingy's had a snack, I encourage her to go out for a few hours into the gardens - it's her favourite place and I think it's important for her to retain some of her outdoor cat habits.
I just want to understand better what she's thinking and expecting, how I can understand her different calls. Can some of you help me with some cat psychology.
Some minor things now:
Why, when she has a water bowl indoors which she is happy to drink from, does she make a bee-line, when I let her out, for the bowl I put in the rose bed for her, which leaves and other bits of garden detritus fall into and make definitely manky?
What is her decision making process when going to lie down? Why does she tend to go round in circles before actually settling down? Why does she sometimes want to climb up me so that she can settle down near my face but, other times, she lies at my feet or decides, in spite of her apparent need to keep me close, to go and sit at the other end of the sitting room on another sofa or on the floor?
Why does she sometimes just stare at me? We can both be sitting comfortably and out of the blue she'll just turn and stare and just keep on staring.
Does the fact that she wants to check out all food that I'm eating it by sniffing it mean she thinks of me as an alpha cat feeding her kitten or that she's the alpha cat and I may be "stealing" food she thinks she may be entitled to? It's not a problem - I just want to understand better.
Is the fact that she behaves like a complete tart towards men a pheromone thing or is it that until me she had male residents caring for her?
I love Thingy to bits and she obviously identifies with me and my apartment as home but I do want to understand cats better so I can make things as comfortable for her as I can. When she adopted me, I promised that after the uncertain existence she has had in her long life, I was going to make however long she has left as the happiest time in her life. Can you help me, please?
