Well, friends, it has been a mere 6 months since I adopted my darling Bella. You may recall that I kept lamenting and hand-wringing about her not being "traditionally affectionate." Sherry justly called me out on that one. I am very happy to say that here, we have a love affair going on. I describe it in the following song:
"Hello, my Bella, Bella, Bella. Hello, my pussy pussy cat." Hello, my Bella, Bella, Bella. I love you and you love me, And that is that!"
The music (I've always been an amateur musician and for quite a while a song-writer) is catchy. Bella knows it, I think.
Recently we went to Italy and a wonderful couple came to live in our apartment to care for Bella and her little friend, my adorable rescue cat, Jamie. Both their photos are in the gallery of this forum. When we returned two nights ago, those folks told us that the cats never slept with them in our bedroom, even though Jamie came to the TV room to cuddle and watch the news with them. As for Bella, whom they loved and admired, she reportedly did what she wanted, independent and aloof, and was "sometimes with us, often not."
Well. Last night both Bella and Jamie spent the night at the foot of the bed. Unlike before, they weren't separated by three feet of space. They slept not nose-to-nose, but separated by only about a foot. At one point I woke up, 4:15 A.M., on jet lag. Bella, surprised, moved up along my body, couched herself just about at my armpit, and rested there for a few minutes. I felt ecstatic, and did nothing except give a gentle, smoothing pat very briefly along her flank. I respect her need for a little distance. I am not all over her. I give slow, long blinks and she returns them. She has on occasion extended her face, touched my nose and licked it.
There is a wonderful book, very pricey, with gorgeous photographs, THE LIFE & LOVE OF CATS, by Lewis Blackwell. $50. I sprang for it. Blackwell really knows his stuff. There are chapters on almost every topic you could imagine, including cats' healing powers, worshiped from the time the Egyptians dreamed up the goddess Bastet, queen of maternity and health, and now well-documented by scientists. Anyway, one of Blackwell's major points is the fascination we all have with cats as a combination of the wild and the domestic, which is Bengals in spades!
He is also quite intent on telling us we have to accept the "mystery" of cats -- their inability to be known by us in human terms. I am very glad to say that I have now completely accepted Bella and treasure her. She is a delight every day. And yes: I love her, and know she loves me. And that is that!!!
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