Human on the run

About a week ago my human escaped. Everything was normal until one night she just wouldn’t settle down. I tried to keep her company and rest near her but with all the moving and shuffling it was impossible. We finally got some sleep and the morning was fine – or so I thought. My human got dressed and left. I was alone.
Later my former human showed up to keep me company and check my water and food bowl. I do like my former human. She’s good company. I get cuddles, I get carried, I am talked to and I can tell her about my day and show all my things to her.

This went on for a few days. No human, just my former one. It was fine I suppose. I got treats. Shrimp. We played a little and then went on a spider hunt. My former human doesn’t like them and dropped a book on one and refused to clean up the little bugger. We’ll leave that for my new human as punishment for leaving me.

Then one day a new set of humans showed up. I have never met them, never heard their voices so I did the natural thing of staying away. I did get a glimpse of them from behind the sofa table and scratch post though. Two tall, skinny ones with long hair. One male and one female. They cleaned my litter box. I could hear it from my hideaway under the sofa. They didn’t stay that long which was nice. The boredom started to get to me though and I felt really miserable.
The day after a new set of humans showed. One looked strangely similar to my human. It was the same voice at least but I wasn’t sure so I hid under the sofa. The two humans was rummaging through the kitchen while I just listened. At one point a face appeared at the far end and spoke to me. I didn’t take the bait. You can never be too careful.

After what felt like an eternity listening to the calm voices in the kitchen I took a leap of faith and meowed to see what response I would get. The one that looked and sounded the most like my human showed up and encouraged me to come say hello.

It WAS my human!

I started circling her in ecstasy, stroking against her and every bit of furniture to mark my territory and show my happiness. I even went as far as to rub against the legs of what I believe was the loudmouth [owner notes ‘my mum’]. She was quiet though. I even let her pet me and I could hear a quiet ‘Ooooo’. Yes, I let her touch me.

I refused to let my human out of my sight afterwards. She had tons of cuddles to catch up to and I hadn’t brushed against her glasses in days. We spent the remaining day in the sofa watching nature programs about strange creatures and at night I curled up next to her in bed just to make sure.
The day after was more of the same. Cuddles, cuddles and more cuddles. I’ve been able to relax my protectiveness now. I feel I can sleep on the other side of the room with my back at her without fear of her leaving. I did suffer both night and daymares after she returned though. I think it’s a symptom of having been alone for as long as I was. It’s been a long time since I had nightmares and then all of a sudden I have 4 in less than 2 days.

I need to rest now! My human is home!

[owner notes ‘hospitalized for 5 days. Highly stressful as an owner of a scaredy-cat (no pun intended).’]

Why do cats have nightmares?

I have nightmares. Is this normal for a cat? I never remember them but I do remember being startled, sometimes to the point where I bounce off the sofa or accidentally kick my human in the face.
It’s interesting though, it only happens when I’m sleeping on or next to my human. If I’m in medium sleep I can get startled if my human moves, even if it’s a minor movement. Sometimes she doesn’t move at all and I still get startled. My legs usually start to twitch right before the fit but sometimes the fit just happens and it is terrifying!

One early morning I accidentally kicked my human in the face. I have large claws on my back paws and even though they undergo pedicure every so often they still do damage. They drew blood!

Maybe these nightmares are the product of a stressful summer. I moved house, got a new human and a home all to myself. No other cat to share with – yet. We had a visitor, a panther, during the summer. Maybe he’s the reason for my nightmares. I’ll share that story some other time.