Unconditional love. The most ironic thing about this is that I’m getting that love from a cat. Cats are stereotypically the one pet that makes you work for their affection. A contrast from dogs who are genuinely happy to see you every single time you come home and show their undying love and gratitude for your presence. My girl, Faye, is the feline equivalent of a dog. She loves me with her whole heart and she lets me know every chance she gets. When people talk about being a pet’s “person”, I am Faye’s person. 100%. In fact, I am convinced that she’s not going to check out of this life until I do. That’s not actually possible given that she will turn 18 this month. Her time with me is growing short, but she is packing every bit of love into the time we have.
This girl of mine takes care of me like the mama cat she never got a chance to be. Every night, without fail, or really anytime I am stationary or laying down, she snuggles on me. The mothering part comes from the fact that when I get settled into bed, she lays her front paws and head on my hand until I fall asleep. Sometime I after I go to sleep, she moves down to the foot of the bed. If I happen to wake up in the middle of the night, she comes back up and lays on my hand again until I fall asleep. There have even been a few times that I have been restless and unable to sleep. During those times I have felt her paws press down on my hand, as if she is telling me to settle down and go to sleep. When I used to take afternoon naps on our couch (before we became a cat and dog household), she would crawl onto my chest and sleep with me. For 18 years I have had this girl by my side at night.
This adoring, affectionate, devoted little girl loves me with her entire soul. It will break my heart when it’s her time to join our ornery orange kitty who passed several years ago. She was best friends with that fella, whether he wanted to be friends with her or not. She didn’t take no for an answer. I can’t say our other cat is as unconditional with her love. Faye has tried to be her friend, bless her heart, but our other cat is of the “touch-me-not” variety. So it’s just me and Faye. She tolerates my husband only because he’s in bed with me too. If she and I could have the bed to ourselves every night, this would be heaven on Earth for her. She is my girl and I am her human. She is everything that is good about having a pet.
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