ASTRID...The Internet Kitty Star

I really must remind myself the next time I am at Target or somewhere such to buy a new camera.  Ours broke ages ago and I just keep forgetting that we need a new one.  I'm not a photographer by any means.  Trust me...I can always make my subject look terrible no matter how I try.  Odd in that I work with professional photographers all the time and can tell them EXACTLY the angle and shot I want and it always turns out perfect.  I suppose I have an objective eye, but not a subjective one.

Astrid, the little kitty that insisted on moving in has become a cat. I will publish his usual picture, but you should see him now.  He is a monster.  A giant tom cat that has Russian Blue markings.  I promise to get new pictures soon.

Karma, the cat that is rarely mentioned was in this house before me.  She is almost 19 years old...and to be honest...she mainly sleeps all day.  She has made a home of the laundry room (where both the litter box and food are) and rarely ventures out unless she wants water which is in the kitchen or at treat time...which is when Gary comes home from work and I am rarely awake for.  Make no mistake, I adore her.  She took a year or two to warm up to me but now treats me like a "pet parent".

Still, Astrid is beyond devoted to me.  He still sleeps with me every night.  He used to follow me around (and still does at times), but he has become "best friends" with our miniature schnauzer Paley and they tend to stay in the same room most of the time except at night.  Paley and our ancient schnauzer Roman sleep with Gary.  Astrid stays with me.

All of the previous is just a set up for a question I have.  I wonder what it is like for a house cat?  Astrid wanted SO much to live here.  He stayed on our porch for days without food or water (I didn't want another cat) until I finally gave up and let him in. He was such a tiny thing...so fragile...and I must admit...I loved him from the instant I saw him.  I said no more cats, but I knew he belonged with us.  His determination was amazing.  He was GOING TO LIVE HERE if it killed him.

He has been here now a long time.  In his own way he sort of tries to run the house.  He jumps on the kitchen counters, my very expensive dining table..creeps into closets and the pantry...if there is a way to "get into trouble" he finds it.  Let us not even talk about the expensive things he has broken.  As mad as I can get at him....and the million times a day I say, "Get DOWN...NOW!" I still adore him.

Still, I wonder...what is it like for an animal that will never, ever leave the interior of a house again?  Karma has spent almost twenty years without leaving the house.  Astrid is coming up on a year.  Astrid especially spends time looking out of the windows...but...in all this time he has only tried to leave once.  He ran out and ended up on the front porch.  He froze as if he had landed on Mars.  I think the scope of things seemed too large to him.  A window is one thing, but the real world is far bigger and probably scary for a cat that never leaves the house.

Odd now, I can leave the door wide open and he will stand at the threshold and never move.  Still, it amazes me....how does any living creature condition itself to stay in a confined space for all time?  I guess I should run Astrid and Karma down to a prison and ask the lifers how they do it.

Regardless, I am still very happy that Astrid decided that this was where he was going to live.  I admire anything that can bypass my personal determination.  Astrid had me at "I am just going to sit here and wear you down"!