We were concerned with how she would handle the death of her lifelong companion. The vet warned that she might freak out, go into a depression, perhaps even wander the house keening for Jess.
um, no.
In fact, the opposite was true. After a couple of days, when she felt pretty confident that Jess was not anywhere in the house, for reals, we actually caught her doing a one-way waltz through the great room singing "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead" in an opera voice. Well ok, not really. But almost. You could tell she was thinking it. Let's just say that Jess had been a bit cranky towards Peeps for the last -- oh -- year or so of his life.
In short, Piper has been enjoying the hell out of being The Alpha Cat for once in her life. Seriously, she morphed into a different cat than the one I'd known for the last 6 years or so. She preened. She strutted. She lazily swished up to us for affection. She talked. A lot. She even began channeling Jess for a bit, which really freaked me out. She would jump onto the bed at 6am and meow loudly, waking us up -- reminiscent of the late gray pumpkin. Not. Cool. We nipped that little habit in the bud, oh yes we did. (SRSLY, one of the only things about Jess I don't miss is his penchant for waking me up at the ass-crack of dawn).
She tried to step into big gray-and-white paws, she really did. But there was just such a ... presence ... missing in the house. Jess was such a big personality, and Piper, as funny as she is, is just not....and I know I'm an asshole for saying it...but she's just not a standalone cat. I don't even think she was comfortable with her new role, once the novelty wore off. It's a big responsibility, entertaining two adults constantly, making yourself available for affection 24x7, responding to humans talking in "cat voice" (you know, like "baby voice." only...for cats). We were wearing her out.
I hate to do this to you guys, I really do, but a girl's gotta work. Thus, this is ...
to be continued...
2 comments:
I got two cats my senior year in college--Elvis and China. They grew up together from kittenhood into old age. When Elvis died at age 16, I was sure China would be devastated. I wondered about this to a cat-loving friend of mine. She sagely told me, "China will tell you how she feels about it."
The next day, China did pretty much the same thing your cat did. She was all relaxed and happy as if she were thinking, "Sweet! I don't have to worry about that stupid cat attacking me anymore!"
That is EXACTLY what Piper was thinking, I know it. Amazingly, she has adjusted to the new kitty much better than I expected her to...
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