Okay, this is going to be a bit of a departure from my usual blog posts. It’s going to be about one of my cats, and I’m actually not even going to try to tie it in to my writing.
In December I took Kit, my adult cat, to the vet. I was listening to a Madonna CD on the way. Kit loves riding in the car, so she was relaxed but alert looking out the window. She looked very content and kept giving me “cat kisses”. Then Madonna started singing “I Love New York”. Kit looked like someone had hit her. She started crying and clawing at her carrier. She was reaching toward the source of the sound. I tried to comfort her, and she covered her ears and continued to cry. As soon as I changed the song, she relaxed, started looking out the window and throwing “kisses” my way again. I smiled and suppressed a little laugh. Okay, so she clearly hated the song. No big deal, I can live with not listening to it when I’m with Kit.
Fast forward to last night. I was downloading some music to my ipod, so I turned on itunes on my computer. I put it on shuffle because I like to listen to a mix of music. The playlist I chose has around 1000 songs on it, so I get a nice variety although I have to admit I don’t always remember what’s on the list. I like the surprise that brings. When I’m sitting here, if a song comes on I’m not in the mood for I just skip it. No big deal.
I went to the kitchen to feed the cats while the download processed. The cats started eating. Kit eats on the stairs (a habit she started after we got the kittens. She won’t eat close to them. But that’s another story.) The point is she is close to my office, so she could hear the music better than the rest of us. I started putting away the dishes in the dishwasher when “Me So Horny” by 2 Live Crew played. (Yeah, folks, I have the song on my itunes list. Get over it.) I wasn’t in the mood for it but not annoyed enough to stop what I was doing to change it. I glanced over at Kit. She stopped eating and looked around with her ears twitching. I watched her her tail start to fluff out. She suddenly darted up the stairs. I looked out the window by the front door. Nothing there. I looked up the stairs. She was peeking around the corner with a disgusted look on her face - the same one she gets on the rare occasion her litter box isn’t clean enough to suit her - and her ears were moving in all directions. I got it then. It’s the music. I turned the song off. Less than a minute later she cautiously wandered back down the stairs, looked around the corner at my office, gave me a chastising look, and resumed eating. So I guess she not only doesn’t like “Me So Horny”, she actually found the song scary. I had to laugh. A little while later, she forgave me with “kisses”, “nosies”, and a rub-by.
On the other hand, put on any John Mayer song, and she completely relaxes.
Kit knows what she likes, and she’s certainly not afraid to let me know.
We could all learn a thing or two from her.