Paul often refers to Roger, the cat, as a “Great Big Cat.”
He says it with a funny voice that reminds me, somewhat, of “The Mad Hatter” from the 1960s Batman show. He tells me that it is a reference to one of the theatre workshops he has attended.
In any case, it’s a true statement. Roger is a Great Big Cat.
He has also been a Great Moody Cat of late. I’m not sure if it’s a case of a kitty midlife crisis (he is getting older), if he was totally freaked out by the arrival and departure of the bats (he was) or if the impending arrival of the (ahem) Dog Days of summer have him resting up and staying cool.
Or it could be that the comings and goings in our household this summer have gotten him down. Holly here. Paul gone. Holly gone. Paul home.
He seems to mope a lot. He sleeps right in the middle of the floor, which is very uncharacteristic (and at times, somewhat inconvenient). Or, at times, we find him perched atop Lisa’s car ready to pounce on the next bowl of the fresh ‘secret food.’
No matter how much food is in the bowl - or how fresh it is - Roger is always convinced we are holding out on him. He’s sure that somewhere hidden in the garage is a container of 'the secret food,’ tiny golden morsels so fresh, so tender, it’d make any self-respecting feline forget about something called 'Science Diet.’
About that, he’ll say 'Raah.’
He says ‘Raah’ a lot these days – which, depending on the situation means “Why haven’t you let me out?” (or in, as the case may be) or, especially in the mornings, “Feed me you dolt.”
He’s a funny cat; totally unlike anyone I’ve ever met. He’s very intelligent and his behavior is interesting. At the same time, he’s not very lovable. Even though Holly professes to want to love and cuddle him, even she’ll concede – he’s not very cuddly.
Still, he was intrigued about our Skype session with her last night. He recognized the voice – you could definitely tell that based on his curious reaction (with ears twitching and head cocked). You have to consider, though, if he was wondering why the familiar sweet voice was coming out of a flat metal box!
The one highlight in his days seems to be the arrival of the kitty treat in the kitchen around 10 p.m. or so each night. For a while, we tried to outwit him – to let him believe that the treat was just randomly showing up. He’s too smart for that.
Now, when he hears EITHER of us move around that time of the night, he immediately perks up and comes to the appointed spot to wait for the treat to be doled out.
Clearly, we have to come up with a better plan.
And we need to come up with a way to cheer him up, too. I’m at a loss. Any ideas?
JG
Question of the Day: Any ideas about how to cheer Roger up?
Originally posted 7/17/2012
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