So, last year we had to put my cat Loki down. She was the oldest, and the next oldest is Yoda who's about a year or so younger. They grew up together and were our matriarchs.
Yoda developed a subdermal hematoma in her left ear two weeks ago. It's something that can happen to cats, where the lining of the ear separates from the inside part of the ear and then fills with blood. It's really great! /end sarcasm. The space fills completely with blood and it's this huge, hard swollen thing that drags their ear down and is (I assume) painful for the kitty! What they do is put the cat under, slice open the ear, drain the blood and then sew the lining back to the inside part of the ear to keep it from happening again.
Yoda had her surgery, but she's got stitches, so she has to be kept separate from the other cats until they come out. She's been living in my room since then. It's nice having a cat in here full time. I haven't had one since we put Loki down. Anyway.
I have Loki's ashes in a little wooden box on my nightstand. The box came with a nice velvet-y bag, and I left it in there. It's been sitting there the entire time Yoda's been in my room.
Well, on Saturday, I went back into my room for something and found that Yoda had pulled the bag, with the box in it off my nightstand and had it on the floor beside my bed. Okay, fine. She's a cat. They do stuff like that. I put it back, told her to leave it alone and didn't think about it.
Sunday, I came home from the gym and walked past my bedroom door. I could hear Yoda yowling. Not the 'help!' or 'pain!' yowl, but...a cat yowl of something. Talking. So I finish up in the living room and then go into my room, expecting to see her on the bed, yelling at me.
Well, she's not. So I walk around to the far side of my bed.
And there she is, with the box containing Loki, standing over it, yowling.
WTF cat. Stop it.
You're freaking me out.
She had to knock it down and then drag it around the length of my bed, and then back up to hide it to where she couldn't be seen from my door. And she's not a large cat. She's tiny.
I've taken the box out of the bag. Maybe that'll stop her.
Awww, she misses her friend. :(
ReplyDeleteI hope she is healing nicely!
But how does she KNOW? That's what I want to know. How does she know that's Loki in there? It's ashes. There's no way anything in that box smells like Loki. And Loki didn't have a collar or anything, so there's nothing in there that retains her scent at all. So how does she know? *is clearly still freaked by it*
ReplyDeleteYoda's doing well. :)
That's...cute, sad, cool, and freaky.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad Yoda's doing ok. Did taking the box out of the bag help so far?
sanil,
ReplyDeleteYeah. it is.
I don't know. I actually put the box away first, in a drawer. But I hated having shut Loki up in a drawer. I know, I know. So today is the first day where it's sitting out on the nightstand without the bag. I put the bag on another shelf so if she's just attracted to the bag, she'll have that out of the floor when I get home.
Maybe she doesn't know it is Loki, but maybe it gives off a smell that attracts her somehow? That is weird though, but animals always have that extra sense about things that make us find them eery. Especially cats. Maybe that's why they are associated so often with witches. :)
ReplyDeleteShe's still rubbing on the box and yowling at it, but she can't haul it around the room anymore since it's out of the bag.
ReplyDeleteI'm counting it as a win. And trying not to hear the twilight zone music every time she does it.