A Little Piece of Heaven

When I named my furry 'pretty-boy' "Gabriel", the name had come suddenly to me after a period of time when I had no idea what to name him. And then one day, I got a 'flash': it would be "Gabriel". And it was perfect because he looked up at me as soon as he heard it, stood up and flicked his tail straight up in the air.

There were a couple of things I did not know then. As I was settling in bed last night, I reached out for my Archangels book. I have it sitting there on my night table for weeks, but had not yet opened it. And then I read the part about Archangel Gabriel. He is said to be of the "orange ray", ruling the second chakra of the human etheric body; he is being described as emitting or associated with an orange-to-gold light... I thought of Gabriel my cat, and how he is orange to golden... And how he feels so very warm to the touch. When I touch even the tips of his ears, I can feel this heat emanating from him; he can just touch me with his paws for a flicker of a second and I can still feel this heat coming out of him. He is a healing cat, no doubt.

I thought then that maybe this is a kind of quiet miracle that I would choose to call him Gabriel, that he happens to be the color of what is believed to be the Archangel's ray ....

A cat that perhaps can take the credit, along with Princess, in bringing me new luck and a new lease on life, at least in perspective, since his arrival.

Like a little piece of heaven on earth, to touch and hold every day.

Maybe Archangel Gabriel touched and inspired more than just my own consciousness. My neighbors next door had a son a few months ago, right about the same time as when I got the cats ... They named their son ... Gabriel.

Cat-Forgiveness

After our eventful -late-morning today, aka my freakout over Princess actually opening my eye cream jar up and dipping her paw in it, we thankfully forgot about it and moved on to our normal routine. Princess reconnected with me about an hour later ... and she forgave me. She started circling around me as I sat at the dining table working on my laptop, 'kissing' my feet and legs and brushing up against me. Gabriel followed suit too.

All I did really was screech like a cat when I discovered what had happened... I was just beyond words at the impossibility of a cat being able to open up a tightly closed jar, even. I'm beginning to talk their language now... why use words when I can just shrill in shock. :)

So, they continued to follow me from room to room, as always. At some point I was on the phone talking to a prospective renter coming in to see my place, it was a brief conversation. I was going to show him the spare bedroom -- yes, the one where they both knew as tiny kittens and spent their first few days in. I guess they see it as "their room" as it has their toy, cat beds, and food - and their kitten memories. But they almost never go in there if I'm in the house - they're with me at all times. Today, they picked the time to claim the room right before I was ready to show it. They both plopped down on the big bed even and just lounged... looking at me as I entered.

When the guy came in the front door, they split immediately never to be seen again until he left. This is the second or third time they have acted totally unsocial when someone new comes into the house. I thought that by now at least Gabriel would be over it because he was friendly with the DISH cable guy. But not this time, they scurried off before they even saw him.

So... they are attached-at-the-hip to me, on a really deep level ... But yet, are unable to remain social with anybody else.

Aw-mah-gawd, what have Ah done. (Cat psychologist ? )

:)

In The Cat-House

This mornin' mom came down a lot later than her usual thayme and Pipi and Ah were patient but anxious to go down to the kitchen with her. Pipi got a little skittish after a while and decided to start running around downstairs and playin. Until mom came down.

Next thang Ah knew? Ah hear her shriek. We pretty much know: when we hear mom do the shrill-shriek? We know somethang's gone wrong. She saw somethang on the floor and picked it up... and Ah guess it waws somethang about that thang that seemed to be the cause of all the shrieking. Ah mean, Ah did nawt hear any words comin' out of her mouth at first, she was just shrieking in laike... horror. She kept holding up this tiny little thang when Ah realized AH hadn't done anythang... It was awl directed at Pipi, thank god.

Ah removed mahself from this scene as quietly as possible. Pipi, honey? You're awn your own.. Ah'm sorry, but this thayme Ah'm just gonna retire over there bah the wall until this is awl over...

Pipi of course was acting awl sheepish and guilty.. it waws so obvious.. Ah mean, the more mom shrieked and showed her that tiny thang, the more Pipi kept lowering herself to the ground and flitting away. Finally we heard the "What did you DO?!!" phrase, but then there waws this other word we'd never heard of before and mom kept repeating it, well... shrieking it to Pipi: "Expensive!!" And Pipi would just stop and stare at mom whaile this word was being yelled, tryin' to understand what IS "expensive"?? And whah is that so bad??

It didn't seem to blow over as fast as other thaymes... Pipi was still in the cat-house minutes afterwards... and mom kept reminding her about this damn thang that Pipi played with. We finally went downstairs and stayed down there, away from the heat... let mom cool down.

[... "Pipi" managed to open my Chanel eye cream jar....complete with a paw print in it. ]

Spoke Too Soon

Hah, y' awl.. Ah gotta tell ya, the other naight? When Ah was sleepin' soundly by mom's door? Ah suddenly started seeing mom in some kaind of danger.. Aw-mah! She wuss... Ah'm not sure but she was... in danger! Ah tell ya! Ah started crying out for her, it waws a do-or-die thang. "Mom! Mom!! Where are you?!! ".

Then the door opened, and there was mom... intact. She kneeled down to stroke me and awl, wawndering if Ah was "okay"... Ah waws so glad to see her, Ah kept brushing up to her at every single step. What a relief, Ah tell ya. Ah followed her closely to the other small room, kept looking up at her... aww, mom! So glad you're okay.

After she closed the door back up again Ah waws more than happy to go back to mah sleep; Ah did not make one peep after that knowin' that mom was okay naw.

[Gabriel must've had a bad dream ... involving "mom"! no less! ]
:)

Speaking in Yiddish..

As both cats continue to grow and thrive, I am noticing that the way they communicate remains in the same stage as when they were kittens. As you know, I found Princess and Gabriel at a pet adoption fair at the Tyson's Petco in early December. They were part of a group of five kittens, as pictured here on the right, even though they were not all born of the same mother anyway, because Gabriel was born 3 weeks earlier. These kittens were rescued from what was deemed a "collector's" home... too many cats, apparently and what not, I am really not sure. But they were taken quite young because by the time they were up for adoption they were still only a couple months old. And of course, they were socialized at the foster's home, a woman who is part of the Four Paws organization and who has been fostering cats for a really long time.

Both cats as we all know by now :) took to me like ducks to water, bonding with me almost immediately. Gabriel, especially, even as an hornery kitten that he was, loved to spend lots of time laying on my lap and falling asleep in my arms. This was and still is part of our routine.

But now that both cats have passed the 8th month mark of their lives, they still are not vocal. I have yet to hear a clear "meow" out of either one of them, I mean a clear and loud one. Gabriel still sounds like a kitten the rare times that he 'meows'... The way that they vocallize is mostly through the 'chirping' sound, I'm not sure how else to describe it. I'm thinking of it as the equivalent of speaking in .. "Yiddish"! Some sort of ... isolated, "regional", cat-dialect that few cats have ever heard of before... :) ... Seriously, when does a cat never meow normally?

And part of their 'Yiddish' tongue, comes the wild swinging of their tails. They both do that as well, just part of their social time with me; their tail swings from its root back and forth really fast while they vye for my attention and petting. But they do respond to my verbalizations to them; like the other evening, they both came into the bedroom and as I greeted them verbally both their tails went straight up in unison, as they were side by side. That's when I know it's not enough to show affection physically by stroking them... they need to hear something from me as well, it's like a reassurance. Princess had started purring as a really tiny kitten that she was the minute I started 'talking' to her, not just by petting her.

I'm just wondering at this point: Are they ever going to come out of this strange dialect? Are they ever gonna meow normally? ... Is this 'Yiddish' tongue a kind of gypsy cat-dialect? A remnant of their feral-like beginnings?

:)

Breaking The Pact

Pipi and Ah had some really bad fights lately. As soon as mom came home, Ah get attacked by Pipi soon after, she's such a bully to me. She lunges for mah neck and knocks me down to the floor ... mah legs fly around up in the air as Ah roll around on mah belly tryin' to get mah balance. And half the thaymes Ah throw mahself down on the floor anticipating her attack, that's mah defensive stance. Ah let her 'cause Ah know Ah'm so much bigger than her. Ah 'been together with Pipi since Ah can remember, Ah luuve her so much, Ah always run right to her whenever Ah hear her cry. She just has a bad temper and thinks this place is all hers sometimes, is awl. She even screeched at me a couple of thaymes, twisting her neck lookin' realy ugly at me, humping her back... So Ah got the message...

Next thayme mom came home and tried to get me to plop down on her lap like we used to before, Ah wouldn't let her. Ah knew Pipi wouldn't laike that, so Ah kept mah distance. Mom couldn't understand it so she would come and get me again, trying to get me to stay and relax with her but awl Ah could think of was to look around anxiously for Pipi - Ah knew Ah'd be in trouble if she saw this.

Sure enough there she waws... in mah face, walking up to the couch looking at me menacingly: "You on there? What did we say?", she glared.

Well, mom noticed awl that and tried to put Pipi in her place. But Ah still couldn't relax enough and had to shake mahself loose every time and jump away. Ah took quite a beating over this, Ah wasn't gonna risk it. Pipi just got sick and tired Ah think of mom paying me too much attention whenever she comes home, so naw Pipi is the one to jump on her on the couch.

We got over it, pretty much. Ah get back at her too, eventually ... knocking her on the floor so hard sometimes she yelps. And then mom breaks it up by yelling "Stop fighting!!" and we split up immediately. Pipi stalks off with her ears down, looking really piiissed and awl but Ah'm finally free of the badgering, y'knaw?

[Sometimes I'm considering getting them X-rayed for broken bones... ]

The Other Side of the Door

Hi, y' awl... Y'know, every day mom goes through that door and Ah'm right there with Pipi biddin' mah 'gonna-go-byebye'. At least, that's what she says every mornin: "I'm gonna go bye-bye! But I'll be baack!" We saw her getting ready as usual the other mornin and we figured we're gonna beat her to it and went downstairs to wait for her - we know the drill. She takes some thangs that she carries with her uh... paws, and that's pretty much the giveaway that she's about to go 'bye-bye'. Ah mean, Ah'm learnin' to accept the fact that she's gonna go... even though Ah don't laike it. Especially when she's with us laike back in the old days, giving us awl the attention for laike... two days in a row. And theen, awl of a sudden? She laike, goes out that door again next mornin'... Up until last thayme, Ah still got shocked to see her leave 'cause Ah thought it would awl change and go back to what it wus before. So Ah got a look in mah face laike: "What??!! You're actually leaving again?!!" But Ah'm getting used to it naw.. Except last night... Last night she went out that door at the wrawng thayme, without telling us anythin'. Without carrying anything with her paws... notin'. And she left the door open, just a crack.

Ah just had to see what was going awn on the other side of this door. Ah just know not to go through that door, ever - Pipi told me it's a big no-no. Besides: we can hear this big noise every thayme and awl [garage door]. But Ah had to try and see for mahself what's going awn out there.

So Ah stood there, by the crack of the door, juuust enough for mah eye to see, patiently watching what mom was doing. Ah tell you, Ah don't think she could see me, Ah mean it was juust that bit of a crack, as small as mah eye could fit there. She did come back raight then, and Ah scooted further away from the door so that Ah don't know... so that Ah wouldn't be that obvious, y'a know?

:))

I See Dead People

It's Princess here again...oh, and one other thing: I get very skittish sometimes in this house... I don't know, really, but... I see some things that make me wanna run real fast. I tell you I do see them. I follow them with my eyes, I follow their movements and after a while I just can't stand it anymore and I run away, you know? Maybe I'm too sensitive, I don't know. But it gets kinda creepy sometimes 'cause they're not really here, I can't touch them or smell them. But I see them. Like, this morning? Mom picked me up first thing after she opened the door and held me close to her as usual, and all I could do was watch whatever this .. uh, thing is around her, it was close to her head but above it, moving around ... my eyes got real big and I kinda wanted to get down fast, you know?

Gabriel sees these things too... One time? Gabriel and I were both sitting near mom on the couch when we both looked up, on edge, watching the movement a few feet away from us. We were like... 'what in the world...' At least mom was right next to us, so... we didn't freak out too much.

[Mom really does wish she could see what they see... But she can't. Mom really does wonder: is it 'dead people' or ... dead cats floating around? ]

Big Game

Hello, Princess-incarnate here. (Well, they did call me "Princess-trouble" at my foster home, so... ) Anyway, I like to collect things but I don't sneak around doing it - I do it right in front of mom. She plopped her rings on the kitchen counter yesterday and I went for it, after all this time controlling myself. That ring called to me and I had to seize the moment and take it - until I got busted.. oh, well. I tried to get her hair thingy the other day too but I couldn't carry it in my mouth, tried to run with it so I could stash it somewhere but I kept dropping it, it was too big for my mouth ..(I got busted on that one too). And that phone thing of hers, oooh-my. I would love to take that away with me; tried to open it up, explore it ... tried to drag it away, but I couldn't, darn it. And then there are her keys but that's another 'big game' ... can't keep 'em in my mouth and run at the same time. Biting more than I can chew here.

In a perfect world? I'd keep a stash of mom's hair barettes, rings, phone thing, keys, and whatever else I could sweep up. And hey - to my credit I did dig up her old hair thingy from under the [stove] ... that wasn't my stash - not in this lifetime anyway.

Fashion Choice Horror

This mornin' stahrted normal enough for us awl. Everytin' seemed faine until Ah went into a room Ah usually don't go into. Ah was kand of fascinated bah this colorful thang standin' there, it beckoned to me. So Ah stretched mah neck and looked into it, explore it; it was so colorful on the outsade and it had this empty space inside it. Hmmm...

Then Ah decided Ah wus gonna walk away from it when the thang grabbed ahold of me and wouldn't let me go! The more Ah yanked mah neck back, the more it came at me, mimicked mah movement! Ah started to walk and it started to follow me! Well, that totally spooked me owt then and Ah ran so fast laike Ah never ran laike that before. Ah ran toward mom, she wus standing in her room upstairs; she tried to catch me but Ah couldn't stop! The thang was still onto me! Ah wusn't stopping for nothing. The thang wouldn't let go! It took awn a laife of its own and gawd knows what it wus gonna do to me! Ah ran out of mom's room and flung mahself down the stairs - this wus do-or-die, Ah tell ya! And Ah could hear the thang making this crunchin' noise all the whaile as Ah flew down, Ah tell ya it wus right AWN me! Ah ran back upstairs again, and down the stairs trying to get it to leave me alone!

I ran out of gas... Ah got so taired, Ah had to stand there all still, in the middle of the kitchen. Ah could go no mawre. Ah no longer cared if that thang was awn me anymore. Mom came down and somehow? She made it go away, it was off of me. She held me close to her, Ah thank she was worried 'bout me.. Ah was breathin' real heavy, couldn't catch mah breath. She held my head close to her and waited until Ah was awright Ah guess.

And then Ah realized, Pipi got awl freaked owt bah awl of thiiss... and went hidin' behand the couch. Aw, naw.. Not again.. Ah looked her way but she wasn't coming owt. Ah better wait then, Ah layed down there waiting for Pipi. Mom came and sat next to me and started tawlking, whaile she was strokin' mah head:

"It's okay, Princess.. Gabriel's okay, see? It's okay. Gabriel just... had a bad fashion choice, that's all... "

Ah decided to scoot over a little bit, further away from mom... Ah don't know if mom was helping matters, wasn't sure Ah wanted to associate mahself with this boolshiit.

[I almost pi'd on my pants this morning in the middle of trying to get ready for work. Gabriel got stuck on the handles of the empty Aerosoles shoe bag; if anybody's ever seen one, it's a big paper shopping bag in bright colors like red, yellow, green. ]

Another Bad Fashion Choice

This morning I was in the kitchen eating my 'nummy num' with some peace and quiet while Gabriel was busy somewhere "upstairs". All of a sudden, I hear this commotion and a whole lotta running. Next thing I knew, I see him flying down the stairs in this manic state I have never seen him in, never before.

There was no looking at me, there was no communication, nothing - Gabriel had gone crazy. Crazy with a lot of colors on him somehow.. they were all stuck on him.

This was worse than last time when he came in with that big thing stuck around his neck, I mean it looked so unnatural and weird!. This time there was this even bigger thing on him, and I think it was ... chasing him! That's why he went crazy and tried to outrun it. It was really bright with all kinds of colors and it looked like it was going to take over and gobble Gabriel up!

I ran away at once from all this madness and hid behind the couch. Oh my god, what is going on with this catman?

I peeked out from the back of the couch a little bit to see what was happening and then I saw Gabriel looking toward me from a few feet away, all calmed down now. The colored thing had disappeared and mom was sitting by his side. They were both looking at me each trying to coax me out of my hideout in their own way. Gabriel was concerned but at least he wasn't barrelling toward me like last time, he had regained his composure. Mom was telling me that it was "okay now" and to come out, that Gabriel is supposebly normal, to give him another chance. She was even scratching his head and stroking him. Nope, I wasn't gonna. This was just too much. First it was the drunken freakout and now this. I mean, does this catman just ... attract these things on him? Are they like... chasing him and then coming after me?

Eventually, I ventured out and went looking for mom upstairs; but I tell you, I was still spooked to no end, each step I took was careful and deliberate; I looked here, I looked there, took another step. It seemed back to normal I guess.

Running Interference

We are going through what I call the 'difficult phase'. This is when Princess is still young. In her young age she is really hyper, flitting about, scurrying back and forth, jumping on the kitchen counter when she knows it's a no-no zone, quickly flinging herself off when she hears me coming... I mean, it's a total circus. She's sharp as a tack of course. It's the same drill all over again, just like the original Princess.

She did something the other morning that really angered me. She was fast asleep on the bed but at the exact moment that I finally began to drift asleep she suddenly sprang up and came over to wake me up and walk all over me. Princess I used to do the exact same thing. At first I tried to teach her not to do it by pushing her away, even making her jump off the bed. But she is so stubborn, she would get right back up with the mission to keep me awake apparently. I got so mad, I lost my patience and took a swat at her butt. This was the first time she's been swatted at. And it definitely got her attention; she jumped off and ran down the stairs not to be seen again for quite a while.

She would reappear again later but not without an escort...

As I was in the bathroom area cleaning, I noticed that she entered with Gabriel by her side. They're normally on their own path as they follow me around - this time she kept close to him, standing by his side the whole time, her little face right next to his, looking up at him: "What do you think? Is it safe?".

We got over this bumpy part and everything was back to normal again. Last night, as Gabriel began to use the carpet again as his scratching post, I started to yell "No, NO! ". She heard it and sprinted across the room with vengeance just to get to him and force him to stop. ... Mother's little helper, I tell you.. :)

Yeah-Right!

I am going down the stairs to the rec room, on my way out. Gabriel and Princess follow and plop down on the floor, the one next to the other. They both look me in the eye, their attention focused solely on me as they watch me go through the usual steps prior to leaving the house.

"I'll be baaack.. :) ", I say. "I'll BE back", I try to reassure them, as I finally reach for the door.

In unison, their tails flip up and flap back down with some force:

"Yeah-right!".