The Only Variable

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The Only Variable

                Last Wednesday (11 days ago) we took the cats to my aunt’s house, where they would stay until today, while we repainted and re-floored the entire second floor of our house.  We joked the whole time about how they would probably think that that was their new house, and would be totally shocked when they came back home.  First of all, the new smells from the fresh paint and floors would probably overwhelm them, but then the change from the carpet to wood floors would force them to get used to a whole new feeling under their feet.  Also, all of our furniture is currently stuffed into my mom’s and dad’s room, and the other three bedrooms are completely empty. 

                We made sure to put all the blinds back on the windows, prepare the litter box, and set up food for them today in preparation for their return.  In addition, my mom and I went to Applebee’s for dinner, and I brought back one bite of my steak for the kitties to enjoy.  I hoped that maybe it would assuage their severe trauma of new smells and changes in their home.  We brought them home tonight, and they immediately ran all around the house, smelling everything and rubbing their paws everywhere to remark their territory.  After that, they ran upstairs, and stopped at the top of the stairs, confounded by the new paint smell and the hardwood floors. 

                It caused me to wonder how it would feel to be so frightened every time I went in the car, not knowing where my next destination was, whether it was home, the vet, or those “other people’s” house.  It would be very nerve-racking to arrive at a new place and not know how long you were going to stay there, and knowing that you could be randomly picked up and moved somewhere else any day.  And then, like today, you may one day come home only to see that everything has changed, and that you would have to get accustomed to the new features of your house.  It would be absolutely traumatizing!   I really feel quite bad for my cats.  But on the other hand, I don’t.  They get to lounge around all day, not having to work for anything, and knowing that they would be provided for by their generous people.  It must be a very boring life.  But that is why this unpredictability is so great.  Maybe they look forward to it; maybe it’s what makes them wake up every day.  It’s the one thing in their lives that they don’t know.