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| Gypsy |
Last night, I was minding my own business,
playing my bevy of Facebook games, when Gypsy, who had been snoozing a foot
away on the pink towel-covered Kit-n-Box stretched-walked over to my lap to
finish catnapping. Whenever she lies down on my lap after being on the ‘Box, I
say something to the effect that she has come all the way over to my lap from
the Kit-n-Box. Gypsy purrs her response to my comical statement.
By far, Gypsy is the cat who purrs the
most (and the loudest) in my household. While I’m typing this paragraph, she is
on my lap, purring and kneading. Because of her sharp claws (and my
unwillingness to trim them), I always have a towel on my lap when Gypsy comes
to visit, so, here and now, she is contentedly lying on my lap, trying to get
comfy as she pushes herself so that she is right up against my left arm; she
prefers to rest her head on my left arm.
Gypsy will turn 13 years old on August 3rd.
I adopted her in the spring of 2001 from a classmate (during my graduate
studies years). My classmate rescued Gypsy from a neighbor who treated her
poorly. As a result, by the time Gypsy turned six months old, she had already
had a litter of kittens because of the neighbor’s mistreatment. My classmate
rescued Gypsy afterwards. I think the cruel neighbor had already gotten rid of
Gypsy’s kittens, but I just don’t know the specifics there (and I’m not sure I
want to know). My classmate paid the vet costs, and Gypsy was spayed and had
all her required vaccinations. She told me she could not keep Gypsy and was
looking for a good home for her. Then, she asked me if I wanted to take Gypsy
home. When it comes to cats, I’m a pushover, so I told my classmate that I
would adopt Gypsy.
I remember the day I brought Gypsy home.
My classmate and I met in the parking lot of a toy store that was right off the
expressway (easier to meet there than try to find my classmate’s home). I
brought along Moky’s cat carrier (sans Moky), and Gypsy rode quietly home in
the carrier. When I put the cat carrier on the floor of my home, Moky sniffed
at the carrier and then at Gypsy and hissed and growled. He was not very happy
to have to share me with Gypsy. I put the cat carrier in my bedroom and closed
the door. I wanted Gypsy to adjust to her new surroundings without Moky’s
presence. Then, I let Gypsy walk out of the carrier. I laid down on my bed, and
Gypsy jumped on the bed and snuggled up next to me. We napped together for a
while.
After that first day, Gypsy tried to play
with Moky, but he usually didn’t want to have anything to do with her. Moky
made it a point to circumvent Gypsy whenever he had to walk from one end of the
room to the other. Gypsy would bat at Moky if he came near enough to her, and she
seemed to enjoy teasing Moky just to get him to whine. She still does that on
occasion. While Moky is trying to jump down from my desk, Gypsy swipes at him.
I usually tell her that Moky doesn’t need her help.
Gypsy is self-entertaining. After Gypsy
has a snack or sip of milk (lactose-free, of course), she walks upstairs and
runs in the hallway. When I hear her footfalls (pawfalls), I think that more
than one cat is up there, that maybe she’s chasing Stormy, or Stormy is chasing
her, but when I survey the living room and I see both Stormy and Moky, I
realize that only Gypsy is making all that noise. I’m amazed she can make that
much noise because, of the three cats, she is the smallest. Her small size does
not hinder her ability to make a lot of noise. She has these bursts of energy
that cause heads to turn (mostly mine). I have no doubt that the catnaps fuel
her runs.
Gypsy
is sometimes mischievous. She enjoys teasing Moky and Stormy, and she welcomes
a chase and sometimes initiates that chase. She can be very silly and playful.
She gets this look in her eyes when I play with her. This look is different
than the feed-me stare and definitely different than the sleepy look. When I
move my hand in front of her or touch her tail when she is in a playful mood,
she looks downward at my hand, and I can tell that at any moment, she’s going
to bat at my hand. When she becomes silly, she is often lying down and putting
her front paws over her head. When she is in a box (Gypsy loves boxes!) and in
a playful mood, she will turn around in the box. Sometimes, I tap on the outside
of the box because I know it will make her turn around in it. She uses her back
paws to start the process, and she will turn around several times in the box.
It’s quite a hilarious sight to behold.
Sometimes, Gypsy likes to play with the
Crazy Circle or the catnip ball. The Crazy Circle is a round plastic toy that
contains a ball that cannot be removed by the cats. When the ball is batted by
a paw (or my finger), it runs around the circle until it stops on its own or
until a paw (or finger) stops it. Gypsy plays more with the Crazy Circle than
the other two cats do. the catnip ball is kind of a heavy ball that’s a little
bigger than a golf ball. It is made purely of catnip. The ball’s surface is
very hard, but it can be picked apart by the cats. Occasionally, I find bits of
catnip that I know came from that ball because the pieces I find are hard. When
Gypsy attacks the catnip ball, she bats at it and chases it (typical cat behavior).
Like Moky, Gypsy talks, but, according to
the vet, this is normal for older cats. She talks to me when she wants me to
give her a snack, and she talks to me to wake me up from my night’s sleep so
that I will feed her (usually breakfast). She also talks to herself. Usually,
when she mutters to herself, she is waiting for me to feed her. However, I’ve
noticed, too, that she talks a great deal upstairs while I’m downstairs. I
imagine she is complaining that the litter boxes are dirty, so I do my best to
keep them clean.
Unlike Moky, Gypsy’s meowing is soft. Moky
bellows while Gypsy softly squeaks. Still, I answer her when she talks.
Normally, Gypsy’s meows are soft, but when I take her to the vet, she has a
special meow she reserves just for the ride over. This meow is much different
than her normal voice; for starters, it’s louder. This meow is anxious and
worried. She doesn’t know where she’s going, but she knows, in her head, that
it can’t be good because we never go anywhere except to the vet (with the
exception of moving her from my old apartment to my newer one). Like Moky, she
is quiet on our return home. Unlike Moky, Gypsy only meows on the way to the
vet. Once we get into the office area, she is quiet again. I think she is still
anxious and worried, but she’s not vocal about it like Moky is.
When I had to take Moky, Gypsy, and Stormy
to the vet for their FLV tests last November (2012), my friend helped me. She
rode in the car with me. The three cats, in their respective carriers, were in
the backseat. My friend told me she had no idea that Gypsy could make the loud
meows she was making on the ride to the vet. I reassured her that Gypsy makes
these same sounds each time I take her to the vet. As far as cats and people
are concerned, anxiety and worry make everyone talk differently.
Gypsy is my moocher. She is the cat that
stares at me when it’s nearly time to eat. She is the cat that will sit
directly in front of me while I’m eating a meal or a snack, stare at me, and
open and close her mouth (I call it the fish-mouth method because she opens and
closes her mouth ever so slightly like a fish does when it is breathing) in
anticipation that I’m going to give her a piece of whatever I’m eating. Most of
the time, I don’t share my meals or snacks with her. However, when I’m eating
roasted chicken, I do usually give her a few tiny pieces of it (all three cats
get some of that chicken).
Gypsy has a built-in meal clock. Like
clockwork, she comes to me or sits nearby and stares at me when it is almost
supper time. She doesn’t utter a “word” or do the fish-mouth thing; she just
sits and stares until I notice her. Sometimes, she lies on my lap and purrs. At
this moment, I am reminded of a saying, “There is no snooze button on a cat who
wants breakfast.” Sometimes, that saying is true, especially when I think of
Gypsy’s meal clock.
Gypsy is a patient cat . . . to a point.
Don’t we all have patience to a point? When she’s waiting to be fed, she is
fairly patient about the wait. Sometimes, she falls asleep while waiting for me
to feed her. Wow! That’s true patience! I realize that not very many people
would consider falling asleep to signify patience, but I think that is what
sleeping is, in this respect; if we can fall asleep while waiting, we are
continuing to practice that patience in a less troubling way. People who have
lost patience become troubled and irritated. There is no sleeping for impatient
people because they want whatever it is now.
Occasionally, my cats lose their patience with me. When Gypsy tires of waiting
and wants something to be done, she bugs me by pawing me and meowing her
concerns. If she can wait, she does so quietly.
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