A Woden's Day Musing

It's actually Monday morning around 3:30 a.m. as I type this.  Henry Cat woke me up needing to be fed.  I obliged him with Fancy Feast canned Turkey and Cheese in Gravy.  He eats about half a can, then comes up to my lap.  

That's quite a journey these days for an old, half-blind cat.  First he finds the chair in the corner and hops up to the cushion.  From there he can step up on the arm and make it to the side table.  Right now there are only three teddy bears there (Herr Professor Bear, Louie, and Wee Willie) and they stay out of his way.  From the side table, Henry Cat strolls along my credenza, steps over the printer's paper tray, and cautiously takes a step onto the corner of the disk.  I think the white paper on a clipboard contrasts with the brown wood of the desk and helps him find his footing.  Once on the desk, he comes over in front of the keyboard (so much for typing) and waits for me to motion with my hands where my lap is.  It must be hard to see because it's in the shadow of the desk and not lit by the glow from my monitor.  At any rate, Henry will gingerly feel his way down, left paw first, find my leg, and then climb fully down onto my lap.

It's a very special time for the two of us.  He's be half-blind for a year now, but we only just learned that he probably has intestinal lymphoma.  No telling how much time he has left, a few months or several years.  Either way, he's welcome to my lap any time.

After a long time getting petted and scritched behind the ears (his favorite thing), he hops off to the floor.  I'll fluff up his bowl of food or refill it entirely and he'll slowly munch down some more.  Occasionally, he'll eat most of two full cans.  

After that, maybe he'll take a long, slow drink of water.  Then finally we saunter ever so slowly out of my office and down the dark hallway into the great room.  Somehow he always find his way despite the dark and his poor eyesight and we get into the sunroom where he chooses a favorite chair.  Tonight it's the back right one closest to the bedroom door.  He jumps up with surprising ease and turns around a time or two.  I pet him until he relaxes and settles down.  He likes to lay there with his front paws just over the front edge of the cushion.  

We'll likely find him sound asleep on the same cushion in the morning. He might want a 7:00 snack or he might sleep well into the afternoon.  Either way, tomorrow night I'll probably have him on my lap again while I type another blog post.