While Athena is not my first cat, she is the first cat who is wholly mine, who would absolutely not survive without me. My last family cat, Posie, was euthanised in late 2009, and I went to get Athena on a sunny September morning in 2014.
While Posie had four caretakers who loved her, and Athena has only me, these aren’t the biggest differences in my relationships between the two cats. In many ways, they’re very similar. They both get very excited by cuddle time, they both put up with my restless sleeping by taking up position on my legs, they both chirrup when they say hello and they both have a fondness for crab pate.
But I find myself saying things to Athena that I’ve never had to say to cats before, and I every time I do I can’t help but roll my eyes at how much changes in five short years. For example:
- “No, lattes are not for kittens”
- “Take your head out of that gin and tonic”
- “Please don’t hit YouTube with your nose, now it has paused”
- “No baby, you can’t text with me, you text gibberish”
- “The phone is not your toy”
- “Okay, well, yes, when it’s got your app on it it becomes your toy”
- “No, kitten, I was talking to the XBox, not to you, you go back to sleep, XBOX ON!”
However, one thing I say hasn’t changed “THAT FOOD IS MINE YOU HAVE YOUR OWN AND IT’S FULL!”
