My Little Feline Buddy - He does love me!

I have been struggling the last two weeks with a lot of upper back pain due to herniated discs.
No, don't worry, I'm not writing this for any sympathy.

Cats aren't as understanding as dogs - or rather, as sympathetic as dogs can be. I remember our dog, George, comforting me when I was sick or crying over the loss of a loved one. He would lay his large head (he weighed 80 pounds!) in my lap and look up at me with woeful, dark brown eyes and without words, would let me know he knew my pain and was loving me through it.

Not so with my furry feline friend, Baxter. He becomes impatient and demanding if our routine everyday is suddenly different. And it has been. Usually when I first wake up I give him a few treats and we play for about ten minutes or so. I run around the house with a feather toy and he just loves chasing that thing. I race up the stairs and then down the stairs and he follows me deftly until he finally catches his prey. Or I let him.

Needless to say, I haven't been able to do that lately. He has become a bit frustrated with me and the other day started to nip ever so gently, and then not so gently on my ankles. Great. So now my upper back and my ankles are in pain!

Well, yesterday morning I had had enough of his shenanigans. Truth be told, I actually felt bad my little friend wasn't being understanding and was only thinking of himself. You can see, pain was making me a bit delusional.

So, after being nipped in the ankles again, I yelled at him and decided to ignore him the rest of the day. No rubbing his favorite spot just above the nose; no speaking sweet nothings in his ear. Nothing. I feed him and that was that.

Later in the afternoon I lay down on the sofa with ice on my back listening to soft music and hoping the pain would subside, and lo and behold my furry friend leaps up on the couch and sits on top of the cushion just next to me, curls up into a ball with one paw dangling right above my head. His head was slumped low enough that we were just a breath away from each other.

Here was my buddy at last, comforting me with his presence. Just like our dog, George had done many years before.

He does love me! He is after all, just a year and a half old little boy. He needed a little discipline and I needed a little love. Yesterday, we both got just that.