Before I had a chance to settle, Freddie was trying to climb on my lap. “Hang on a second,” I said, lifting my elbow to block him.
“Furry blanket,” he demanded, trying to climb over my arm.
“I know, I’m trying – “
A minute of struggling and tussling and we were finally settled, me reclined with the furry blanket covering my legs, Freddie lying on the blanket on top of me.
“Awfully clingy,” I observed.
“I don’t know what you mean,” he sniffed.
A gentle reminder of how we do things: 🐱🐶🐦
- Do not troll the diary. If you hate pootie diaries, leave now. No harm, no foul.
- Please do share pics of your fur kids! If you have health/behavior issues with your pets, feel free to bring it to the community.
- Pooties are cats; Woozles are dogs. Birds... are birds! Peeps are people.
- Whatever happens in the outer blog STAYS in the outer blog. If you’re having “issues” with another Kossack, keep it “out there.” This is a place to relax and play; please treat it accordingly.
- There are some pics we never post: snakes, creepy crawlies, any and all photos that depict or encourage human cruelty toward animals. These are considered “out of bounds” and will not be tolerated. If we alert you to it, please remember that we do have phobic peeps who react strongly to them. If you keep posting banned pics...well then...the Tigress will have to take matters in hand. Or, paw.
It was a perfect day off. I had a book, and a furry blanket, and a purring cat on my lap. It was raining hard outside and so gloomy I had to turn the lights on inside to read comfortably. I sighed, happy.
“What’s wrong?” Freddie demanded.
I looked at him, startled. “What? Nothing’s wrong. Why?”
“You sighed!”
“I’m just happy,” I explained. “I love rainy, cozy days when I don’t have to go anywhere.”
He settled back down, tucking his paws beneath his body, grumbling discontentedly.
“What?” I asked.
“Happy because of rain,” he muttered.
“Oooooh,” I said, finally understanding. “You’re clingy because it’s raining.”
He shot me quick glare, then closed his eyes. “I’m not clingy. I like lying on you when I’m cold is all.”
I lifted my head and looked over my shoulder, then back to him. “Your heating pad is on and warm,” I pointed out. “And that is much warmer than me. I only go to ninety-six degrees, that goes up to one-twenty.”
“It can’t pet me,” he pointed out.
I took the hint and started petting. “That’s true. You like it, though. I’ve seen you sleeping on it.”
“I like it,” he admitted.
“And I like it because it gets you sleeping on the most expensive bed. The only bed you’ve ever ignored,” I added, rolling my eyes.
“I don’t know expensive,” he said, “but I do like warm.”
“Well, you are a cat,” I agreed.
“That’s right!”
Outside, the rain slowed and came to a stop, the sun tentatively poking out from behind the clouds. “I think it’s just about over,” I said, a little disappointed.
“Sunshine,” Freddie cooed, standing in my lap and stretching.
“Are you leaving me?” I asked as he jumped to the floor.
“Sunshine,” he called behind him as he walked off looking for a patch of sunlight.
“Rude,” I muttered, reaching over to turn off the light. It was bright enough to read without it now.
I shivered a little, chilly even under the blanket, now that the cat was gone. “Come back,” I called, looking around for him. I didn’t see him so he must have gone into the living room or upstairs. “Miss that clingy cat,” I muttered.
I finished unloading the dishwasher and turned to the sink to load it up again. There wasn’t much, just the few dishes we had dirtied since dinner the night before, so it didn’t take too long. I closed the dishwasher door and turned, intending to take out the trash we had allowed to pile up a little too much. Between the trash and the recycling, it was probably going to take more than one trip.
This is what was going through my mind when I froze, nearly tripping over Freddie.
“You shouldn’t stand right behind me,” I scolded, clutching my chest.
“Are you going to sit down?” he demanded.
“Not for a while, I have things I have to do. Why?”
“No reason,” he said, sitting down in my path.
I rolled my eyes and walked around him, then gathered up as much trash as I could carry. It was indeed going to take more than one trip. Cursing myself for my laziness, I carefully navigated the kitchen floor, careful not to step on any part of the cat as he watched me struggle from his spot in the middle of the floor. As soon as I was past him, he stood and followed close on my heels.
“Where are you going?” he asked, looking up at me.
“Outside,” I said, simply, juggling the bags and boxes in my hands to open the back door. “Should have done this first,” I muttered. Once I got the door open, I didn’t bother closing it again, trusting that Freddie wouldn’t follow. He didn’t like being outside, plus it was drizzling a little again.
Sure enough, when I came back he was standing at the threshold, not quite willing to cross over. I stepped past him and gathered the rest.
When I returned the second time and closed the door, Freddie looked up at me, hope radiating from his open face. “Lap?” he asked.
I chucked. “Yeah, sure, I can take a break.”
Once again I struggled to arrange myself before he was climbing on me. No blanket this time (it wasn’t warm enough) but that didn’t slow him down at all. He settled in the space between my knees and curled up in a tight ball. “The rain really has you stressed out, huh?” I said, stroking the fur on his back.
“No,” he said, not opening his eyes. “No stress.”
“Poor boy,” I crooned, running his soft fur between my fingers. “Poor, sweet kitty.”
He gave a deep sigh as if agreeing that yes, he was a poor sweet kitty.
“He has the hardest life,” I continued in a sing-song voice. “No one loves him, no one takes care of him, he’s left cold and hungry all the time…”
“That’s so true,” he murmured.
“Poor little baby. Just a good boy that’s so mistreated.”
“Very mistreated,” he sighed.
I tsked in sympathy and petted him gently until he fell asleep.
I woke up, surprised that I had gone to sleep. My legs and hips were stiff and sore, having been contorted around a sleeping cat for ceiling cat knew how long. “What?” I asked the room, a little befuddled.
Freddie stood and stretched, yawning.
“I fell asleep,” I told him.
“That’s what you’re supposed to do during the day,” he said.
I looked out the window and saw that while the ground was pretty wet, the rain was no longer falling. It must have stopped right before we woke up.
Freddie moved carefully to the edge of the footrest. “Where are you going?” I asked.
He didn’t answer, simply jumped to the ground and sauntered off. “Come back!” I called.
“Jeez, so clingy,” he said, leaving the room.
Happy Caturday, Peeps! Rain turns Freddie into the most affectionate cat, but I’m sure it’s because he loves me and not because of the weather.