Happiness Is...

...this kitty snuggling up to me.

This is extra special because this is not my cat. It is my hospice client's cat. There are actually four cats - all rescues and all females - in the house and this is one of them.

When I first started volunteering with this family, only one of their cats acknowledged me from the get go. She would talk to me and I'd talk back. Yes, I speak cat. And she'd let me pet her. She actually insisted I do so. The other three kept their distance. In fact, I didn't get a glimpse of them for a very long time. They hid slept in the basement the whole time I was there.

Well, the weeks and months passed, and with my regular visits, (almost) all of them started getting used to my being there every Wednesday. Curiosity got the better of them and two of the three skeptics snuck a peek. From a safe distance.  A few weeks later the same two started sleeping nearby and a few weeks after that, they let me pet them. For a second or two.

Then yesterday, this one jumped on the couch, parked herself right next to me, placed a paw and her head on my leg and took a nap. She let me pet her for as long as I wanted and purred up a storm.

I'm in! I'm in the circle of trust. And it only took about a year. *snort*

Number four is still suspicious. But she did come up from the basement yesterday to glare look at me, so there's hope.