Tungsten in Autumn

Tungsten is getting older. We are all getting older, of course, but when one reaches a certain age, it becomes less of an observation and more of a fear.

It’s estimated that my orange one is about twelve years old. I commemorate her birthday on 2nd May each year. I don’t celebrate it, because she doesn’t care for such things when they come to herself, so I don’t get her gifts, I simply show her a little more than usual that I appreciate her.

She doesn’t seem to be slowing down because of her increased years. She has never been a rambunctious animal, though I never knew her when she was a kitten, but she has bursts of energy, especially after using the litter-box - I’ve heard that this is common among cats - or subsequent to dinner. She will often trot downstairs and then zoom up again, shooting across the kitchen floor and on to a cat-tree. She still jumps heights that are six or seven times her own and leaps distances that would win her medals at competitions, if she were human.

Tungsten’s latest fad is related to that. She has always liked getting on my shoulders (always facing the left), where she will rub her fuzzy head against my face and purr. Now she has taken to sitting on top of the refrigerator and wanting to leap onto my shoulders from there. I don’t care for being pounced on from a distance as Tungsten tends to use her claws to secure a foothold, and even when they are cut, her talons are not dull. It’s a bit unnerving to turn about while making a meal to see this beast poised on the edge of the refrigerator, ready to jump at me. Even when I tell her not to, she leans forward, looking as if she will fall off at any moment, glancing from one of my shoulders to the other, to see which offers the best prospect of a good landing.

She remains the queen of the household, and none of her permanent roommates cross her. Luther the guest-cat seems undeterred by authority and has scrapped with Tungsten more than once. She doesn’t like him. When he is in the back parlour, where he has access to an open window (screened), fresh air, sounds and sights, Luther will sometimes cry at the cold-air vent, the other end of which is in the dining area. Tungsten will periodically stop near there, see if the interloper is on the far side, then hiss, to let him know that his behaviour is not what is traditional in her kingdom.

But my orange one has come a long way in welcoming new cats. Well, no, it’s true that she is never welcoming, but she grows used to them. The newest perma-cat, Tucker, used to elicit hisses and growls when he jumped up to sit on the arm of the couch next to me, while Tungsten was usually on my lap. Now, she allows him that corner; she even sniffs at him. Tucker, for his part, is not quite as frightened of his tiny mistress, though he still moves quickly if she so orders. As I wrote in a recent article, Tungsten has become almost friendly with another of her roommates, Renn, who also once offended her by his mere presence. And of course Josie’s arrival, the first ‘new’ cat, as far as Tungsten was concerned, was traumatic for the the latter. But, though Tungsten has not mellowed in her older age, she has learned acceptance.

Though I hold all my cats in the strongest affection, there is something about Tungsten that the others don’t have. She seems to have a connection to me that may come from the time we spent together before other cats arrived, or from her maturity as compared to the others, or simply due to her character. When I come home from work, various cats come to greet me; Josie and Tucker may chase each other; Renn stirs from the cat-tree or bed where he’s probably been sleeping all day and says ‘hello’. But Tungsten follows me into the bedroom where I change clothes. She jumps up on the bed and falls over, inviting me to rub her chest and her fuzzy head. She sticks by me until I’ve changed and start preparing everyone’s dinner.

I understand her more clearly than any of the other cats, though one like Tucker doesn’t really require a doctorate in psychology. I know what Tungsten’s thinking most of the time, though she surprises me sometimes. I think she understands me, too; sometimes, I merely have to look at her and she can tell by my expression what I want her to do, or not do. Sometimes, she even complies.

I know that at twelve she still has, all things being equal, a goodly number of years ahead of her. But she recently developed more age-spots on her nose, as orange cats do, and now and then, she has the look of a little too many years about her, a little fatigue about the eyes, or roughness about the fur that grooming won’t smooth. But then it goes and she’s lively and zestful. I don’t like thinking of the future, as time takes its hold of her. But last night, as I was watching her, she turned to me with a smug expression; she just wanted to remind me that time wasn’t exactly standing still for me, either...

Smudges

Relaxing on the couch in the sitting room, I can see out the big picture window in front of me. The view isn’t spectacular - the houses across the street - but I can see the sky, so strongly blue at this time of year, and I like it when the great cumulus clouds build in the afternoon, towering and white. Later they may gather and darken and the sun is hidden in the purplish blackness of a coming thunderstorm.

Sometimes I watch the trees sway in the wind. They are filled with leaves now of course, the brightness of their spring verdure fading into the waxy dullness of a hot summer. But against the white of the clouds in the blue sky, the scene is colourful and vibrant.

Then I notice that some of the window’s pane is not as clear as it should be. It presents a hazy, blurry effect of the outside. The lower left corner of the glass looks smudged and unattractive. I just cleaned the window a couple of days ago. How did that corner get like that?

If Only Bath-night Would Never End

Anyone who has read the articles in this blog recently knows how much Renn loves bath-night. He enjoys lying on the mat -  after he calms down and ceases all his gyrations and flips and twists - while I am in the tub. This past bath-night, he was so relaxed, he didn’t move from his position the whole time, not even to study the water as it splashed. He lie on his back, with a leg over his eyes, resting in perfect contentment.

After the bath was over, he evidently did not want it to end. I suspect the fuzzy mat, though hardly comfortably thick, feels good to him, and the warm, moist air makes him drowsy. Who wouldn’t want to keep feeling that way? Alas, all good things must end - though some of us refuse to see it that way.

Friends?

My cats have never been overly friendly to each other. They tolerate one another, to be honest. They will lie near each other on the bed, and on the couch; they will pass each other without exchanging harsh sounds, most of the time. Tucker and Josie, when the former isn’t hissing at the latter, will chase each other, especially through the nylon tunnel. Tungsten will, when feeling playful, lunge at my Chubs, without claws, and drive her away. They get along, for the most part, but I can’t say they’ve been anything more than friendly acquaintances at the best of times.

Tungsten and Renn have been the closest to being friends. They will groom each other for five, maybe six seconds at a time. None of the other cats gives or receives such attention. But these two usually ignore each other except for sniffing noses to a greater extent than with others. But one day during my holidays, I came into the sitting room to see this.

You may think that this isn’t remarkable. The truth is that when Tungsten sits on the couch, it is against the nearer arm, not the far arm. When Renn lies on the couch, it is right in the corner, not at the front of the seat. One of these cats had to be the first to sit there, and the other had to take an unaccustomed position to accommodate the cat already there - furthermore, the second had to choose to sit next to the first. Just as unusually, the first cat then had to remain where he or she was, and not move away when the second sat there.

I’ve seen the orange one and my big boy lie next to each other on the bath-mat. The tiny terror has even buried her head in Renn’s fur. But this is the only time that I’ve seen them make such a conscious decision. I don’t expect it to happen all the time, but this is the closest they’ve been. They seem to like each other. Maybe this means that one day, long in the future, if nothing bad happens and we all have enough patience, two of my cats will actually become friends. Maybe.