That said, I do not wish Alto, our grandcat who lives with us, to go away or to cross the rainbow bridge prematurely. Still, I look forward to the day when we no longer have any pets. I want to be able to travel or leave the house for an entire day without worrying that Alto will starve.
She is not a cat you can leave with a week’s worth of dry food and call it good. She only eats wet food, as it is the only food she will not throw up on a regular basis. Because of that, we feed her small quantities several times a day.
Alto also insists on a clean litter box. We clean it daily, and sometimes she is very clear that she would prefer it cleaned more often. She has trained Joe and me to check her food, check her litter box, and check to see if she has thrown up somewhere. These are the three things she “vocally communicates” with us most about. Joe calls it whining.
As I try to write this, she is headbutting my arm in demand of some serious petting. At least once a week, she knocks items off my desk and I completely lose it. Yesterday it was a basket of papers and supplements. My response is usually to yell, “Damn, Cat!” She then scurries away to hide until I calm down.
Part of me understands that I am assigning intent to her, and that is probably unreasonable. However, anyone who has ever lived with a cat knows that they love knocking things off surfaces. You would think I would wise up.
Sometimes I wonder if Alto ever asks herself whether she could live without these high-maintenance people.
First six items, out of ten, I would keep:
• Vehicle (KEEP)
• Cell phone (KEEP)
• Computer (KEEP)
• Printer/Copier (KEEP)
• Kitchen “stuff” (KEEP)
• Sentimental keepsakes (KEEP)
• Pets (Live without, eventually)
For now, Alto is here, and so are the routines, the messes, and the unexpected headbutts. I may believe I can live without pets, but today I am living with one. And like so many things on my list, this is less about permanence and more about accepting what matters in the season I am in.
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