My Impending Heart Attack

Imogen is a pretty relaxed cat much of the time. But she is also still a youngster, three or four years old, and in very good health. She has bursts of energy. I hope to capture her some day on video while playing, when she leaps and pounces, twists and turns. Sometimes, though, she simply runs.

Yesterday, she had a bolt of energy that she needed to release. Miss Silky knows no rules at such times. She rocketed into the kitchen, jumped onto the stove - which is alarming in itself, as I had just finished heating food in a pot there - missing the elements, ran onto the ledge under the window, ascended without effort to the top of the kitchen cabinets, shot across their length, flew down to the dining table - on the top of which she is, as with the stove, not permitted, by the way - dropped to the floor again and fired herself through the corridor to the bedroom. This was accomplished in about three seconds.

The initial black blur startled me as I was at the kitchen counter, risking a burn on the stove frightened me, banging onto the tabletop worried me; the whole exercise left me short of breath, frankly.

I am pleased that Imo is fit and exuberant enough to achieve all these things. It shows a happy and well animal. But I wish she could provide some warning at such times…