Dear David,
Your buddy Mister Hugh is taking very good care of me. His separation anxiety with you has transferred to me, and he follows me everywhere, including the bathroom. Since you’ve been gone, he tries to sit in my lap at every opportunity, but my legs aren’t as long as yours so he spends an awful lot of time going ’round and ’round in pursuit of the Perfect Position in which to splay. He didn’t purr much with me while you were around — all you’d have to do is look at Hugh and his motor kicked in — but now he’s in turbopurr within proximity. When Hugh isn’t in my lap, he paws at my leg and begs with his big cat eyes, pleading for cuddles as if his life depended on it. You know how persistent he is, and how futile it is to resist the persistent begging.
You might be surprised to know that Hugh went for two whole weeks without peeing in his sleep, until the other day when he did it twice. Once was right on my leg while *I* was sleeping, so everything was thrown in the washing machine. Sigh. He was doing so well, but maybe while people were here Hugh wasn’t relaxed enough for this to happen. Whenever he’d fall asleep on the floor between us in the office, we’d have to wake him up to try and prevent the puddling. I can’t do this all the time, so now I’m trying to train him to sleep on a blanket that’s sitting on top of the incontinence pad we bought for him — the one he doesn’t like and would never lie on. Oh, the indignity. His kitty brain hasn’t figured out that it’s hidden yet.
Me: “Hugh seems to be confused.”
You: “Hugh’s confused by the sun every morning.”
You made fun of him out of love, because Hugh gave you unconditional love for his whole life. Nearly 15 years of running to the door to greet you (“Where’s my buddy?”), sleeping beside you, and on top of you. (I’m still not crazy about the constant threat of getting peed on and the vomiting around the house in his old age, but if you could put up with it, I will, too.) Now he does the same for me and I thank you for that, because it makes me feel like you’ve left a furry bit of you behind to comfort me.
Love,
Gail
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