Snarkclaw

Art

Funny Grey Grump

I have been a real downer so far this year. My circumstances have not improved, but I shall try to change my focus for a while.

Seven months ago, I adopted an old and cranky cat. My household already felt full with one aged dog and two adult sister cats, but this cat needed a home. Her owner died and no one within the community of friends and caretakers was willing to take the cat. I had never met woman nor cat, but I was not going to let a cat be put down just because the folks around her were not cat people.

Over the past seven months, I have frequently wondered whether the reason no one adopted this cat was not because they were not cat people, but because they knew this cat.

To give you an idea of her personality, within the time I typed the above three paragraphs about her, she went from rubbing my monitors and trying knock items off my desk in order to get treats from me (I did not reward these behaviors) to rushing off and cornering one of the sisters in another room. Angry cat screams -- a disturbingly frequent noise since my Grey Grump arrived -- made me leap from my chair to interrupt yet another cat fight.

By some absolute miracle, this cat decided she liked me the instant she saw me, and she loves me now, but that does not stop her from growling and hissing at me the instant things do not meet her approval. She switches from content to spitting mad to content with the slightest change, showing no patience for even a moment of Not Her Way. I am so relieved that she at least decided my dog -- one of the most amiable creatures on the planet -- is no threat.

Adopting this cat has increased the stress and responsibility in my life, but has also been very rewarding. She may be a Hissy Pissy Missy with a hair trigger, but she also tries to herd me to places where we can cuddle and presses up against me with a decided affection.

Grey Grump is a living example of "Take the good with the bad" and I am glad to have her, even with all the stress she adds.