Puzzle

Once upon a time, Puzzle was livelier than she is now. It's still possible to get her to run around after the laser pointer, but she's been on arthritis drops for several years so it doesn't seem right. She was supposed to be three years old when we got her in 1997, but I suspect she was older than that.

These days her main characteristic is determination - she will sit where she wants to sit, and it's almost always on my chair. If I stand up for an instant - no matter how comfortably ensconced she is, no matter whose lap she's happily occupying - she will get up and take my chair! On the left is a photo of her in 1999, sitting in my chair the day we brought it home, before I'd even sat in it once.

Another thing Puzzle used to be was silent. Now that Puss is gone, she makes a funny squeaky noise to tell us things. Mainly what she tells us is FEED ME! and occasionally PAT ME! She's reasonably happy being an only cat, although (as mentioned elsewhere) she sometimes seems to be lying in wait in case Puss turns up again.

She likes to jump onto my bed when I'm getting dressed and walk on my clean clothes, and she likes to lie on my bed where I'm about to do my exercises, just in the spot where I need to do them.

Because she is so fond of clean clothes, Puzzle enjoys helping me pack. On the left, she is resting in my suitcase. On the right, she is sitting in my chair (now covered by a cotton throw, because purple velvet looks bad with an orange fur overlay) again. She's a lot smaller these days, and I don't think she sees very well. If you don't keep her dinner right under her nose when you're putting it down, she can't find it.

Most days, if it's warm enough, she lies outside in the sun. Most evenings she sleeps on a cushion in Dac's desk drawer, and then on his bed in the night. In the morning I make my bed before opening my door, otherwise I can't, because she's in and up and nesting for the day. She is still the most affectionate cat you could hope to meet, and she has an astonishingly loud purr. Once when Den was staying, he reckoned he woke up from a dream of being run over by a motorbike to find Puzzle on his chest.

Sometimes she bursts into purring just because you say hello.

We were mystified when my nephew used to call her "Operation Cat" but it's getting to be pretty apt. Poor old Puzz. I'm off to pat her now while I still can.

Notes on a stubborn inquisitive slinky pinkish pusscat and her personality:

• "Helping" to bring the washing in, by walking around the washing line, batting fallen pegs aside, looking for signs of life.
• Lying in the back yard, soaking up the afternoon sun.
• Curled in a ball next to your pillow, snoring, chasing prey in her dreams, little paws twitching.
• Stretching, yawning, purring, meowing.
• Padding around on the kitchen floor, waiting impatiently for her dinner.
• Following me to the fridge at 3am, because thats where the parmesan hides.
• A paw softly laid on the face, to wake me up for a scritch.
• Two paws in my beard, to knead it because it must need it.
• Lying on my chest, helping me to read a book in bed at night, purring like a motorised puss.
• Stretched out next to the central heating vent, staring out of the front window at the outside world.
• Following me down the driveway as I put the rubbish bin out for collection.
• Coming out in the cold and the rain, to help supervise the bringing-in-of-the-grocery-shopping.
• Going out the back cat-door, coming to the front door, and plinking the screen door to be let in, repeatedly.
• Being totally scared out of her mind during infrequent trips to the vet in the car: heart racing, meowing loudly, drooling excessively from fright.
• Finding the pile of clean clothes, determining that it's nice high place to curl up and have a snooze upon.
• Rubbing up against each and every corner, marking it: "This is mine".
• Getting under people's feet, "leading" them to her favourite destination (the kitchen fridge).
• Sitting on the recliner chair arm, purring whilst watching TV.
• Chasing the bright red laser pointer up and down the hallway, never able to catch it.
• Rubbing up against your legs: "Please pat me".
• Being blissed out by being scritched behind the ears.
• Hiding next to the laundry door for hours on end, waiting for THAT moment when the other cat comes in, so you can biff her on the nose with your fast paws.
• Lying on the cat-cage hammock in the 35C of Summer, totally at ease in the heat, lazily looking at the birds on the lawn.
• Getting frightened by the barking of the dog-next-door.
• Hiding from the visiting children by crawling away under a chair or into a bedroom.
• Being there.
• ... < sigh >

This page created 20 December 2008; last updated 21 December 2008