By Karen Lewis

Just recently my niece had to go into the hospital for an operation on her knees.  I was there when she arrived home a week later.  Just as I was leaving, one of the cats was trying his best to get on her lap. This was not exactly the best thing for her just then, and quite unusual behaviour for him, as he is not normally a lap cat.

I popped in to see her the next morning and she was lying on her bed, legs stretched out in front of her.  She told me that the cat had spent most of the previous evening trying to get on to her lap, and spent the night curled up outside her door when he was banished.  He was still trying to get on her now, and it was becoming a huge nuisance as, understandably, she was in a lot of pain and didn't want to risk his claws in her legs.

He sat glued beside her on the bed, with a paw coming out every so often to try again to get on my niece's lap. My sister and niece agreed to some tapping to get him to leave her alone.  As I proceeded, it seemed best to me to see if the cat would let me actually tap on his head as I verbalized the phrases.

So I leaned over my niece, got myself into the frame of mind of the cat (named Fudge) and started tapping gently on his head.  He looked at me as if to say, “What are you doing that for?” But let me do it anyway.

I can’t remember precisely what I said but it was along the lines of, I really missed you last week! Where were you?  I was worried; I could sense you were in pain.

My niece giggled at the look on the cat’s face.  He looked as if something really weird was going on, his eyes were crossed and unfocussed and he looked totally spaced out, just like our cats do when they have had a catnip fix.

I, as Fudge, continued with I only want to get on your lap to show you that I’ve missed you and I care.  I didn’t realize that it might not be a good thing to do.  I don’t want to hurt you.  We were both giggling now, as Fudge really did seem as if he was on another planet.

In a few moments he got up, moved a few inches away, and then curled up and went to sleep.  I was with my niece for an hour and a half and in all that time he never tried to get back on her lap. We were both very impressed!

He was good for the rest of the day.  He tried it on once the next morning and I told my niece she knew what she could do if she had to.  In the end, I gather there was no need. He reverted back to his normal 'keeping my distance' behaviour.

An interesting session which still brings a smile to my face today.

Bright Blessings,

Karen Lewis