Merlin’s #1 Man Cat Monday
Layla: So, I’m focused on taking a nice shot of Domino when out of the corner of my eye I see Gris Gris waving his arms like an orchestra conductor. I’d never seen anything like it but since he often acts as Merlin “seeing eye cat” perhaps he was playing body-guard from unseen danger.
Merlin: What is this nonsense you’re spouting, woman? I know perfectly well when I’m about to hit the bushes. My whiskers warn me. That Gris Gris was just trying to get me to play but I’m too old to prance around like him. He’s no spring chicken (where is an editor when you need one?). Who does he think he is, Mick Jagger? The only game I like outdoors rolling in the sun. Allow me to demonstrate and yes and change is sometimes as good as a rest. But may I remind you, I’m not dead yet and this still is Mondays with Merlin!
Layla: I stand corrected. For those of you wondering how Merlin is doing, he’s been more cognitively lucid and alert lately making it easier to communicate with him in an intuitive shorthand. What, you want another kitty litter near the bed? Sure. You like cool spring water in a glass on hot third floor. You got it. More cod liver oil mixed into your food so you can smell it better? Yup.
Several times a day, I simply tune in and ask verbally and non-verbally, how he’s feeling and what he wants. Thankfully, he’s always been verbal. I know when he gets quiet, all is not well. It’s natural for any being who is losing their senses to feel fear and it’s up to us as caretakers to help alleviate anxiety. I’m spraying Feliway in all of Merlin’s favorite places and it’s helping after last week’s epic hissy fit.
As I’m spending more time with Merlin and less time training Odin (which he loves) is feeling displaced. One night last week, while Merlin snuggled under the covers, Odin who never stays on the bed for more than a few minutes, crawled next to us. We’re all familiar with the low growl of an angry territorial cat but Merlin’s guttural sounds scared even me. I thought the bed would rise and spin around like in The Exorcist! Needless to say Odin fled. You didn’t need to be psychic to know Merlin didn’t want to share me. And so the shifting sands of cat dynamics continue.
Merlin: Yeah, I’m #1 for evah!
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13 Comments
Hairless Cat
Hi Layla,
Aw, poor Odin. Glad Merlin is more lucid and can still command the situation though.
I’ve seen cats that get a little moody as they get older and sore. Plus, they like to show that they can still be the boss once in a while. They were here first, which means they have seniority and they like to pull rank 🙂
=^-^= Hairless Cat Girl =^-^=
boomermuse
Merlin is top cat despite his decline 🙂
Abby
OH yes my little aging diva does the same thing as Merlin!
She doesn’t want to share me either.
purrs
>^,,^<
♥Abby♥Boo♥Ping♥Jinx♥Grace♥
Brian
Merlin and Odin are both very special in my book!
Bernadette
I always noticed with my juveniles that, despite all the other cats in the house, they thought they owned me, and just like children when they realize for the first time that their parents are not a part of themselves cats realize this too. I’ve always felt a twinge of sadness that sweet childish bond is broken, and it’s usually because one of the older ones told them to take a hike and stop being so full of themselves. Poor sensitive Odin! But I think he also understood that his time will come.
Katnip Lounge
Sometimes watching Cat Dynamics is fun, and sometimes it’s just a pain in the bummal-region. Good for Merlin that he’s feeling lucid and up to “talking”, I wonder how much pain blurs his ability to communicate.
Tamago
Oh Odin, sounds like you needed an extra attention…I’m sure you will, just maybe not on a bed when Merlin is snuggling there 🙂 Merlin, you sure are #1 cat!
boomermuse
He did and he’s in a snit now! It didn’t help that had to give him antibiotics twice a day for two weeks.
CATachresis
It’s amazing how dynamics change, even when the cast doesn’t change, if someone is sick or in need! Getting used to the new normal!
boomermuse
Exactly! Maybe change is the new normal.
Deb Barnes - Zee and Zoey
It is incredible just how heightened the claim to territory becomes when the humans go to bed at night. In our house, it is primarily a showdown between the men – Zee and Jazz for a spot of human warmth. Jazz is the elder, like Merlin, and becomes somewhat agitated if he does not get his way and I find that it is extremely important as Jazz ages, that he get that extra special cuddle time. I have tuned myself into Jazz’s needs as best I can, because I feel my time with him is heading on the same path as Merlin and I want every precious moment I can have with him.
Good luck with the Petties – that was a great article you wrote and I hope it gets the recognition it deserves.
boomermuse
@Fuzzy Tales, thank-you!
Deb, thanks! I keep forgetting Jazz is so much older than the others. I’d like to see you write more about him.
Fuzzy Tales
We continue to send purrs to Merlin, for his Highest Good.
And we’ll send some purrs to Odin, too, so he still feels loved and doted on. 🙂