Apparently, Cats Become Stranger With Age...

I have to start this by saying how truly, deeply I love my cat.  I got her and her sister (who passed about two years ago) when I was 8 years old.  When I left for college, my parents decided that the cats now belonged to them, but make no mistake, they're MINE.  Now that I've been at home for a while, my baby has returned to me.  She even sleeps in my closet, reminiscent of Abigail Breslin's line in Raising Helen; "closet smells like Mommy."

This was a bag of tortilla chips.

I should also preface this by explaining to you that her sister was strange from the get go. For example, she ate with her hands, and didn't run with her knees.  And, for a cat, she was obscenely clumsy.  She could jump on a table and slide off the other end.  She would get her claws stuck in the couch while trying to run away.  You could tip her like a cow, and she'd just fall over.  And she ate bread.  To her credit though, she did figure out how to open my bedroom door, which isn't even a lever-style knob.

Strange cat #1: Baguette

Her best impression of an ostrich.

  
Now, at age 16, my other cat has started to exhibit strange behaviors as well.  Maybe she's channeling her sister.  For example:

• She talks more often.  And by more often, I mean pretty much all the time.  Especially when she is displeased.
• I once dropped a small Cheeto right by her foot.  She ate it.
• When she wants to be pet, she comes over, and reaches her paw out and lightly touches you, as if to say "Hey. I'm here now.  Feel free to begin my massage."
• She has tried to climb up my legs (resulting in a very painful puncture wound on my hip) while I'm brushing my teeth.
• She sits on my lap when I'm doing my make-up in the morning (which would be really sweet if it wasn't an attempt to pull me away from whatever I'm doing and focus on her, because she is obviously the most important part of my life).

She even killed a rat (and kindly left it on the floor of our entry way).  She also periodically has what my mother likes to call "a nutty," which basically means she darts around the house as though she's just been given an overdose of intravenous caffeine.

But I can't help it.  I love her adorable little self to pieces.  Even if she is a crazy old lady.

Strange cat #2: Bandit

One of her most favorite sleeping positions.

She's my lil' princess!