The BEST cat ever.
If you don't believe me, keep reading.
(Also, see my post "Isn't She The Cutest Thing..." from July.)
I have to leave my cat, among other things, in California.
She's gained weight since our photo montage.
She's still cute as hell.
Did I mention she's the BEST cat ever?
She is.
I've lost so much in the last year, I hate to think that now I am losing her.
But Maison is more than just a cat.
She has been the only thing certain about every day.
At 5:22 every morning, Maison is there.
First, to remind me of her breakfast, pacing back and forth on top of my pillow and yes, my head. Then after a scoop and about 6 minutes Maison is back in bed under the covers with me, any closer and she would have to crawl under my skin. She purrs. I hate this part. It's only 5:28 and I'm ready to go back to sleep, however, it's no easy task with a small car motor only 5" from my head. But like it or not, she's there, every morning, motor and all.
Every afternoon when I come home, she happily waits for me at the front door.
It doesn't matter what time of day or what house, apartment or living room we're staying in. Maison is there, right at the front door when I walk in. As if she can anticipate my return. She always greets me with the same noise. It's not quite a meow, but more of a chirp. If I could include a sound bite in my blog I would, just know, it's adorable.
Every night, around 8, Maison will come find me.
It's time for dinner and there is no ignoring this cat. She will hunt me down.
She will purr and kneed and whine and lick my face until I drop whatever I am doing and get up. As soon as she sees me standing she makes a sprint for her bowl, practically tripping me every time. (I'm happy to report that there have only been two times where she's successfully managed to trip me; I swear if you could have seen her face you would agree that she was laughing.) After a few scoops and a full bowl she's content. She'll find a place to park until it's time for bed.
Our bedtime routine is always the same.
She gets one treat while I change into my pajamas.
I used to give her two until I found a pile of them under my dresser.
The next night I watched and sure enough she ate the first and went to hide the second.
Turns out I have a damn smart cat.
I only wish she could tell me her reasoning behind the reserve of cat treats.
Is she rationing them?
Preparing for winter?
Dealing to other cats in the neighborhood while I'm out of the house?
Then we crawl into bed. Maison always sleeps on the bottom right corner of my bed and half way through the night migrates up to the top left.
Maison follows me everywhere.
If I'm in the bathroom, so is Maison. I can't even close the door when I shower.
If I do Maison puts her front paws as far under the door as she possibly can and meows painfully until I let her in. She's fallen into the toilet at least 3 times and has probably eaten an ounce or two of toothpaste.
She has to be everywhere that I am all the time.
She's a baby.
She has a baby blanket. It's yellow. She drags it around the house with her to sleep on.
Maison has two fruit loops. One blue and one yellow.
When she was a kitten I was pouring cereal one morning and I spilled some of my fruit loops on the floor. Maison dashed for a few and I thought she'd eaten them. The next day I noticed two fruit loops sitting outside her litter box. I thought I had just missed them and went to pick them up, but before I could Maci finished in her litter box jumped out and put the fruit loops in her mouth. I proceeded to watch my cat carry around these fruit loops like babies. She lays on them, plays with them and hides them. I've had to replace the original fruit loops due to the wear and tear of being carried in a cat's mouth all day, but she loves them.
She'd make a great cat mom.
(We just won't tell her she's fixed or that those fruit loops are fruit loops.)
I even did the unthinkable and bought Maci a cat sweater. She looks great in it.
(We do not wear our cat sweater in public; mostly in the house, just for naps.)
If I was a cat, I would be Maison.
She is the world's BEST cat.
She's more than just a cat.
She's what made these last 6 months on my own bearable.
I worry about what Maison will do without me. What kind of cat she'll be.
More than that, I worry about what I will do without Maison.
Without my 5:22 wake up call and my welcome home.
What will I do without my constant kitty companion?
I named her Maison, because she is grey like stone.
(I added the 'i' to make it a little more girlie.)
When used as a noun a 'mason' is someone who works with stone.
What a lot of people don't know is that when used as a verb,
the word 'mason' means to strengthen.
She's more than just a cat.
And Maison is much more than just a name.
7 more days with my kitty,
Kelci
