A Gilda Change
In my office are two very large identical desks.
I have a thing about pairs.
One is for my Apple computer. I love love love my Apple. I also normally keep this desk quite clean. It is intended as my oasis of calm & order.
The other is where I restore my lights. This table is normally an incredible mess. There is the inevitable old light that I am working on, surrounded by tools and parts and wire.
In the corner of the work desk is a small old box. Inside is an old cat, my Gilda. She is at least seventeen now. I have never had a cat live this long. A seventeen-year-old cat is like eight-four-year-old human.
So, Gilda is really old but not actually ancient. I had a friend with a 22-year-old cat.
Still, in the last two years her decline is observable. She went deaf at some point. Recently, she is obviously having some hip issues.
Last year she was able to jump the three feet between the two desks. Then she missed one day and crashed to the floor. After this happened several times, I ran out to the garage, and returned with a 1×12 board four-feet-long. I laid this between the desks. At first, it scared Gilda, and she refused to walk this gangplank. After a few days however, she gingerly tip-toed across it. She seemed quite pleased with herself, and the plank, and so she tip-toed right back.
For years now, Gilda has spent most of the day curled inside her old box. About twice a week I replace the crumpled packing paper inside the box. Gilda delights in finding new paper inside, and she walks around in circles pushing the paper down, before nestling down for another long nap.
But a few weeks ago, Gilda changed her behavior…
She started leaving her old box, walking the gangplank, and nestling against my chest.
She then drapes her old head on my left arm, and goes to sleep. This makes it hard to type, but as I am right-handed, I can type just fine with this free arm.
This now seems to be Gilda’s default daytime position.
What has caused this sudden change?
It’s a very cute change though. I like it.
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You truly are such a lovely human being, Ross. You have such a good heart.
Gilda wants to be close to you, obviously. Bless her. Perhaps she is physically connecting with you now because she knows that she is transitioning….although in my experience through the years with my beloved cats who were about to pass on, they would physically distance themselves from me, and seek refuge in a new removed place, different from where they usually would hang out.
Gilda is a sweetheart. xox
She needs to be close to her human, what a sweetie.
My Cuddles did that too. We discovered that she was feeling cold and wanted our warmth. As much as I loved snuggling with her, she did get in the way. I put a heating pad on the couch, under a towel, turned on low. She then had the option of napping there when a lap was not available.
Cuddles was 20 years old.
I hope Gilda is just looking for a soft spot to snuggle, and that she has many years left in her.
Awwwww she loves you and is seeking your comfort? we have 3 cats, ages 13, 13 and 12, and they too have become quite snuggly as they advance in age. She enjoys your company as much as it sounds you do her.
So sweet. Treasure such times, Ross. Your post touched me deeply having lost our two sweet kitties just this last month within a week of one another. Scooter was 19 and Henry, 17. We have no human children, but have had three wonderful cats over the past 30 years and the love we had for them, and them for us, knows no bounds. I’m sure you feel the same for your lovely Gilda.
Awww. Melody is on to something, she might be getting cold, like old people tend to do at that late age. A heating pad covered with a blanket or a heated cat bed might help. It’s hard to disturb our fur babies when they are so cute and cuddly!