When you walk in the door of my apartment, you will most likely be affectionally greeted by a big 22 pound cat. If you have allergies or a dislike of cats, you can guarantee that he will be all over you. And don't you dare sit in his chair - he will scratch the comfy chair or bite your ankles until you get up and then he will quickly steal your seat. If you were to stay over, I recommend that you do not leave a glass of water beside your bed or else he will 'accidentally' knock it over onto your face when he is impatiently waiting for breakfast to be served.
The other day, I bought Cheese Whiz. Growing up this was always a treat that we all enjoyed. If we were sick and in bed, my mom would bring us cheese whiz on toast. I have been craving this processed cheese spread for several weeks now, but it is expensive and the no name brand is really sub-par. I was quite excited the other day to find this treat on a great sale! So when I came home, I prepared Cheese Whiz on Rye bread, placed it on my table beside my laptop and then went to the washroom. When I returned, my cat was licking his chops and looking very happy. And half the cheese whiz on my bread was gone. Apparently my cat likes processed cheese spread as much as I do.
My cat lives into his name especially when he is sleeping. I named him Shalom as a symbol of my journey of healing that I am on. Shalom means peace, wholeness, wellness. He is beautiful when he sleeps and has the cutest snoring sound ever. I always find he looks completely content, anxiety free and relaxed whenever he sleeps and I yearn to be that content. He usually can be found sleeping on my bed (on only the purple sheets - if the white sheets are there, he will not go on my bed) or in his chair (which also has purple in the fabric) or on the gas stove that gives off warmth. Or one day I found him in the dryer!
Lately he has been doing strange things while he sleeps or discovering new places to sleep. The other day he found my piano bench comfortable. He will sleep on piles of books or on other seemingly uncomfortable objects. He will try to sleep on my hands as I'm typing away at the laptop. The other day he was sleeping on his chair with his paw covering his eyes - for the first time. He woke at the sound of the camera turning on, but I offer this picture to depict in part how darn cute he looked!
Shalom has a fierceness to him that people often do not believe when they meet him. But he does not like raccoons. In my old apartment, the other tenants often put garbage on top of a full garbage bin. They never used the compost bin so all the organic waste would be exposed to the various animals scrounging for food. Waste would be blown under the back deck which happened to surround the window in my bathroom. My other window was at ground level. On night I was on the phone with a friend and heard Shalom making this horrible angry sound and went to check it out. I startled him and Shalom attacked me. His teeth ripped through a pair of jeans and managed to break the skin. His fur was standing high and his tail rapidly moving. There was a raccoon outside and once the beast disappeared, Shalom was back to his normal friendly self. I learned to read the signs of danger. Shalom's tail would start whacking the wall and moving quickly, followed by him arching his back and his fur standing high. By the time he started making his vicious cry, it was too late and I would grab a pillow to be prepared to defend myself against the momentary ferocious beast. One night, Shalom was particularly nasty when the raccoon came to visit and the pillow was not sufficient to protect me. So I ran to my bedroom, knocked a glass over to the tile floor (it shattered), slammed the door which had a picture nailed to it (this also fell and the glass shattered). I stood in my room trying to catch my breath, relieved that I was now safe. And when I looked up, there was Shalom, perched on my bed ready to attack. Thankfully raccoons don't come by my current apartment.
Shalom has a submissive side to him though. While he will take on raccoons, he will bow to petite female cats. He was staying at L & D's hotel (my good friends who were kind enough to take him on during my hospital stay) and apparently sacrifice food or his toy to Miss Scooby.
Shalom also has a very protective and serving side to him. If I am sad, he is quick to snuggle and to nudge my face until I eventually laugh. If I am angry, he knows to stay away (wise cat). Anything new that I bring home he must sniff and check out. He has specific cries to let me know if someone is by one of my windows or at the door. But his protective side came out best the other day. I opened the door to my fridge and guess I startled this huge ugly scary looking centipede/millipede thing (out of all the insects that I have seen, this one by far freaks me out the most). This startled me so much that I screamed out loud at the top of my lungs. Shalom came running but by that time I had smushed the horrendous beast. With my heart still pounding, I went to read on my chair. Shalom would not leave my side and kept looking side to side as if to stand on guard and look out for me.
Then today, I returned to my home after being away for the past two days. I had left Shalom plenty of food for the two days. I've been wanting to cut back on his food portions lately because he isn't getting any thinner and I am worried about his health as he ages. Shalom doesn't like this idea. He gets quite demanding when he is hungry - he weaves his way around my legs as I'm walking from one room to another, crying this pathetic sounding cry to get my attention. If that doesn't work, then he will turn to biting my ankles. Shalom loves his food. I felt guilty leaving him for the weekend so I decided his diet would not start just yet. So I left out food that I thought would last him until I arrived home and left the tuberware of cat food open just in case it wasn't enough. When I returned home today, it was obvious that Shalom had eaten more than the portion I left for him - the tubberware was turned on its side and the food was everywhere.
I love my cat. He brings laughter and joy to my heart with his funny little antics and his affectionate ways.
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