My cat, Murray, recently had a bit of a tiff with me. Or rather, I had one with him! I came home from a long day/night of working two jobs, and just wanted to go to bed. But Murray was going crazy in the living room, meowing insistently and pawing at the glass at the patio door. I didn't know what was going on, but I just wanted him to be quiet, so I went to the living room to look and see what was outside - and saw nothing amiss. So I scolded him, telling him there was nothing out there to get excited about and told him to be quiet. He didn't listen, of course - kept meowing and meowing. I thought maybe he wanted me to sit up with him for a while and spend some time with him. So I went back to the living room and sat down on the sofa, and Murray indeed was quiet, and rolled around on the floor like he does when he's happy. I spent a few minutes sitting with him before deciding to try heading to bed again. The meowing immediately started up again. I got up to sit with him a few more minutes, and he quieted down - but when I went back to bed, he ran up behind me and scratched at my legs. And he scratched at my legs while I tried to climb into bed. So I got angry, especially when he started meowing again, and I grabbed the squirt bottle and sprayed him. And he was quiet. But I felt bad about squirting him and probably scaring him by playing the role of Mean Old Mommy, so I got up again and talked softly to him, apologizing, and petted him... he was a bit wary at first, but soon relaxed. I brushed him (which he loves) and gave him a snack. Harmony was restored. But then I went back to bed and he started meowing again. So I got up again to sit with him.... and then I finally saw what the problem was. There was a bug in the house - it looked like a moth. And I figured it out - Murray was scared of the bug and wanted me to sit up with him to protect him. I felt so bad about losing my temper with him! After all, he was showing a lot of love and trust in me to want me to protect him. Well, my presence seemed to embolden him, because he started hunting that bug, and he caught it and ate it. Then I went back to bed for what turned out to be the final time, and he was silent. The threat was gone, and he no longer needed my protection.
If only he could have told me about the bug right away, so we could have understood each other and not "quarreled"!
If only he could have told me about the bug right away, so we could have understood each other and not "quarreled"!
