Whisper

The only pets I had growing up were two parakeets: a green one named “Buttons” and a blue one named “Bows.”  At some point, my parents put their cage in the backyard, and someone mysteriously opened it to release them.  We didn’t have any more pets after that.

So when I went to visit my sister-in-law Olivia and her three young children, I was surprised when a calico jumped into my lap while I was sitting on the couch.

The cat curled up and started purring, so I petted her.   Olivia said, “I’m surprised.  She’s afraid of everybody.  I found her in the street, and she usually runs and hides whenever people are over.”

“Yeah, right.”  I didn’t believe her.  I just thought Olivia wanted to get rid of one of the many animals at her house.  She also had two dogs that always seemed to have a new litter of puppies.  Plus, there were a couple of other cats.  Her house was a tiny three-bedroom of maybe 1000 square feet—much too small for such a menagerie.

As I looked at the cat more closely, she did seem to have a broken tail, but I didn’t think too much more about her until I visited again, and she was back in my lap.  In fact, every time I visited, there she was curled up on my lap purring.

Olivia was convinced that the cat was deaf because she never seemed to respond to any noise, and there was a lot of noise in this house!  You could sneak up behind this cat and clap really loudly, but she didn’t react at all.  As a result, Olivia named her “Whisper.”

After several visits in which the cat searched me out and insisted I pet her, Olivia asked if I wanted to adopt her, and I said “yes."  Whisper had purred her way into my heart!  I took her to my apartment, which was near the airport, and the first time a plane flew over, she looked up and tracked it with her head.  That’s when I knew she wasn’t deaf, just really good at ignoring noise.

Wanting to be a good cat mom, I made sure to take her to the vet to get her checked out and make sure she was vaccinated.  I also got her fixed, so she wouldn’t have to worry about kittens.  I figured she’d been through enough in her life.

I found everything about her fascinating, since I had never had a cat before.  She thought making the bed was a game where it was her job to attack the sheets as I put them on.  It took me forever, but it was so much fun and lots of laughs.

At night, she would either sleep under the covers at my feet or on my head.  I slept better when she chose my feet.  Also, she knew the routine and what time I needed to get up for work.  So even on the weekends, she would be my alarm and wake me up. 

Whisper was an amazing jumper.  Nothing on top of the refrigerator was safe, so I had to be very strategic about what I put up there, making sure there was nothing she’d be interested in eating or that would harm her.

Also, she was fascinated that I would subject myself to a bath and would sit watching me in the water, probably thinking I was crazy.

One day, I decided to cook.  Now let me preface this by saying that I’m not a good cook.  In fact, I had a plaque in my kitchen that said, ‘Dinner will be ready when the smoke alarm goes off.’  And the smoke alarm went off pretty much every time I cooked bacon!

Anyway, I had a gas stove, and turned on the wrong burner, not noticing that Whisper’s tail was draped across it.  Of course her tail caught fire immediately.  But she didn’t panic and run through the apartment, setting everything else on fire.  She just looked at me calmly while I panicked and managed to use a pot holder to put out the fire.  Let me tell you, burned cat fur is not a good smell!

Whisper was also a master of doors.  When she wanted me to open one for her, she’d paw at the handle.  Also, if a door was ajar, she seemed to know whether she need to put her paw under it and pull it toward her, or she needed to push it open.

And guess what?  Any time I had guests over, she would hide under my bed until they left.  Olivia wasn’t lying; Whisper was really afraid of people!  I have always wondered why she chose me.  What was there about me that attracted her to me?  How did she know she would be safe with me?

Eventually I got her a black-and-white companion cat from the shelter that I named “Shout,” because she meowed so loudly.  As Whisper got older, she had several urinary tract infections, and I had to buy her special food to clear them up.  Then one day I let her out as I had many times before, but she didn’t come back.  I think she knew it was her time to go, and she didn’t want me to be there for that. 

Luckily, I had many happy years with her.  I have had several other cats since then, but I never loved another cat quite as much as I loved Whisper.  Maybe it’s because she loved me first.  And maybe it’s because instead of me choosing her, she chose me.

Joke: How do you impress a cat at dinnertime? Prepare a fancy feast. —from https://www.rd.com/article/cat-jokes/

Quote:  “Time spent with cats is never wasted.” –Unknown

Advice:  Just love: people, animals, whatever comes to you. All that love will come back to you…multiplied.