Kitty on my Foot

Recently, Rowan has become Mama's Cat again. When I wake up and come within her line of sight, she meows and runs to me. As soon as I sit down, she's beside me, demanding attention. Since it's gotten colder, she's usually lounging against my feet. This is quite sweet, though it does put my foot to sleep after a while. I don't think she cares.

When Rowan was a baby, she was certainly Mama's Cat. We received her when she was small enough to fit into my roommate's hand. She hadn't really been weened and had no concept of eating cat food or using a litter box. Thankfully, her sister Rhiannon was able to show her how to do these things. It made our lives a lot easier.

In those early days of her life, she would sleep on me at night. She would crawl up onto my chest and mew. I'd wrap her up in my shirt to keep her secure and she'd sleep for hours. She didn't like to be separated from me or her sister. In fact, when she went to the litter box, she would cry until her sister came to stand beside her. I doubt that was much fun for Rhi. It kind of explains her sour disposition as an adult.

Rowan may have been fairly dependent as a baby, but once she reached adulthood, she wanted to be on her own. Sitting on her humans was rare. She's one of those cats who likes a lot of eye contact, so her most common form of affection was to give you eye contact for a while.  Once she had enough of that, she'd wander off until she needed it again.

The last four months, I've seen a lot of changes in her. She's now far more interested in contact with us. She likes to spend time sitting by or on me. When she's not with me, she's usually somewhere near my roommate. If he leaves the room to go cook or something, she will follow him and bark little mrows at him until he pays attention to her.

As for me, well, I am once again her beloved mama. She sleeps and sits on me as much as she can. Last night she slept against my leg and purred in her sleep. I'm sure it was very nice for her to be so warm. Her close proximity isn't without its dangers. She likes to bite and no amount of mellowing in her personality is ever going to change that.

Still, I am doing my best to savor these moments with her. Having lost two cats in the last year, I know that time with my animals is precious. I also know that my two girl kitties are 12 now. Every day that I have them is a day I am very, very thankful for them . . .even if my foot is going to sleep again.