I Thought We Lost Milo Today

Milo is the cat. Of course, what else would be named Milo. We are his people. He is nearly 17 years old. He spends most of his time sleeping or just watching Adam do whatever Adam is doing. I have told Adam he can't move out as long as Milo is alive, because sometimes Milo walks around the house crying while searching for Adam. His crying is annoying.

Milo does allow time for bonding with us, though. He sits on Bob's lap every evening while he is watching TV. I am surprised the dog allows this. Maggie, the dog, spends her time watching Bob, but that's another story. My time with Milo is any morning that Adam gets up before me. When I hear Adam turn on the shower, the next sound will be Milo pushing open the bedroom door and slipping in if the dog is out. He jumps up to walk on me and lets me pet him and scratch his head. I can't hide my face under the sheet to muffle the purring or avoid the face rub. He will paw at it or try to get under it. When I do get out of bed, we go the kitchen and get Milo's breakfast. I have to serve this in the sewing room, so I can exit and close the baby gate that keeps Maggie away while he eats. When he's done, he walks through the baby gate and Maggie dances around trying to convince someone to let her in the room to finish the breakfast. Again -- I guess that's Maggies story. But Milo goes along with it and always leaves some for Maggie.

I think the rest of Milo's day is spent napping in various favorite spots around the house. If one would like to find the most recent favorite spot, all one would need to do is put on a pair of dark slacks and start sitting around the house. At some point, someone would ( or should anyway) stop one and say "what's all over your pants?" It would be red tabby cat hair, of course. One would have found the spot.

Years ago Milo would chae a rabbit's foot when we tossed it for him. For a while he would fetch it and bring it back to be tossed again. Then it seemed to occur to him that wasn't a proper cat game, so he stopped bringing it back.
He still seems to enjoy watching Adam toss and retrieve the rabbit's foot himself.

Milo knew right away that whatever was in the bundle Cassie brought home almost 5 years ago, was gonna be trouble. He sat across the living room and hissed at the baby blanket that held baby Alex. He had that figured right, and for most of the past few years has managed to keep out of sight and reach of Alex. But he has gotten to be a heavy sleeper and a bit slower, so now and then
Alex does sneak up on him and carries him around. Milo will hang over Alex's arms with a look of helplessness, and Alex's eyes will be wide and bright and very proud that he has outsmarted the cat. It reminds me of a Kodak moment I wish I had on film -- we were in the pet store in the Westroads and Adam was
Alex's age, when he had the little orange tabby kitten hanging from his little hands, saying, "Mommy, I want us to get this one." Our little kitten hung there with that same look of "I'm gonna need help, here."

Well this morning, Milo did not come into my room. I wasn't bothered at first, but when I got downstairs and Bob asked if had seen the cat, I sensed something was wrong. We called and made our own cat sounds and searched every favorite spot we knew of and did it all again. I stood outside and called for him and looked in street hoping I wouldn't find him there. But I was becoming pretty convinced that he had got out somehow the night before and become frightened by the thunderstorm and ran wildly until he was lost. I was about to phone Adam and question him about where and when he had last seen him.
Then I heard Bob talking to someone upstairs. Since he and I were the only humans in the house, I knew he must have found Milo. Yes, there he was -- he had created a new sleeping spot in the corner of Adam's closet. I had walked by him at least twice in my search for him, and my calling hadn't awakened him.
He must be losing some hearing and sleeping even sounder. He woke up real slow, so we kept on eye on him for the day, just in case he was getting sick. But all seems fine.

He is a good cat. I am glad we still have him.