Fall – our special little manx cat – has been dreaming a lot as of late. It’s changing her personality, for the better, mind, but still it’s rather unnerving. While she’s silent for the most part during waking hours, she’s been purring and meowing while she sleeps, and today, just now, she was making mother-cat sounds along with the other noises.

She was spayed early, because she’s special (mother abandoned her before even breaking the membrane!). She’s only ever been around one litter besides the one she was in (her younger siblings), and once she caught smell of them, she never went back to the basket. She’s not fond of other cats, even though she is forced to live with four others. Fall is only enamoured of her brother, Milo – my gold-plated baby. She will allow him to sleep with her, she cleans him, she disciplines him if necessary.

Since she’s started dreaming, she’s become more vocal during the day, often demanding attention to the food or water dishes, or to be let out. Before, she simply sat and stared at someone until they understood her wants. Petting was a definite no-no, except for BeeGirl. BeeGirl could give lovings up to a point, and then there would be minute claws and teeth to deal with. Recently, she’s been jumping onto my lap for loves, and she’ll sleep with me occasionally as well.

Here’s my thought. As humans, we often dream of family or friends that have died. For better or worse, they touched our lives and can still do so through our subconscious and dream-states. I’m wondering if cats could have the same function; is Fall in fact dreaming of the now-deceased Malley? He too had a similar change in behaviour after BeeGirl’s siamese disappeared. Malley went from being a hellion of white fur and needle-sharp claws to being relatively complacent and cuddly. The old boy’s arthritis and some other issue finally became too much and we had him put down late this past winter.

Is he visiting Fall now, in her dreams, giving her the nudge to trust her humans with her little heart? I don’t know, but you’d think out of all the cats and humans in this house, she’d have trusted me the most since I’m the one that tore the membrane from her little nose and mouth, gave her CPR and mouth to mouth, and rubbed her little body with a cloth to stimulate blood flow (ha ha, sarcasm folks). She’ll be six in August. It’s only this past month or so she’s warmed up to me. Maybe it’s because it’s her turn to help me get back to health?

I’ll be honest, though… it’s creeping me out.

Later!
<3 JL