Minnie looks ridiculous with her new hairdo
Anyone who has known my cat over the last decade, and understood her fairly erratic behavior, can’t help but crack up - not just by her appearance, but that Minnie would tolerate anyone doing this to her! Alternately aloof or demanding; sporadically affectionate, often bitchy; occasionally she’d bounce off the walls like a ping pong ball, or ambush you from behind the covers. With Minnie, we never quite knew what mood was brewing … but we loved her.
Starting the day of our move from Carpinteria, Minnie had the most cat-astrophic 24 hours a feline could expect in all of her nine lives. Freaked out with the decrease in hiding places (furniture) there were shuffling boxes … strangers stomping about … and when I stuck her in the travel case, she of course wee’d. From here, it got only worse … a long (piss-covered) drive … shoved under the bathtub spigot to clean up … back in the (cleaned) case … another long drive … the car accident – with exploding glass everywhere, noise and chaos … stuck in the case for hours … finally released into a bathroom and kept captive (with the necessities) while two big dog sniffing so vigorously they practically sucked her under the door jamb … then picked up by two strange people and shuttled to her new home, where she was immediately pounced on by a kitten and suffered additional humiliating sniffing from two more dogs, plus petting and cooing from the humans.
Granted, Minnie had been through a lot – but if anyone tried to approach her sanctuary beneath the bed, she hissed and scratched. Needless to say, Minnie was soon left alone … and looking for a new home.
Blessedly Brenda agreed to take on Minnie, saying she already had a horrible cat she’d nicknamed “Nightmare.” My last look at Minnie was in a parking garage in Irvine where she, having attempted to remove all the flesh off my right hand, gave a final hiss and sideways glare, and was passed off to her new owner.
What’s my point? Minnie, understandably, was unhappy with the changes in her life … but taking it out on the people and critters who were just trying to be nice, didn’t get her far. Last week, as I laid on my rock hard mattress at La Casa Muy Frio, pondering WHY I should get out of bed, I realized how Minnie-like I was feeling. Everything familiar (and warm) was gone, now here I was in a strange place that just didn’t feel like home. So I was grumpy. And sure - I was justified! But it still didn’t get me far … because when you’re grumpy , no-one wants to be around you ... So eventually I made my bed, and decided to just get on with it.
Apparently Minnie’s turned a corner as well: her new life must be pretty damned good – because a cat like Minnie just doesn’t let anyone give her a Malibu Barbie haircut! Her fat poochie tummy shows she’s eating well, and in her expression is a little bit of attitude …
Other things ... like lounging around all day, letting other people take care of your every need, hiding under the bed when you don't like the company, and rolling around showing your tummy when you do ... well, I have yet to pick up on those traits of Minnie's, but maybe I should reconsider ...
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