When I think of Donna, I can already hear her little paws patter on the laminated floor. Especially at night it’s such an unmistakable sound. She approaches, stops for a while and then it won’t be long until I feel the weight of her warm body on the foot end of the bed. Or on top of the pillow next to me. Never too close, it’s just not like her.
Unfortunately, Donna doesn’t do – or barely does – heights anymore. She has gotten a day older. She has been suffering from arthritis for a while now, but after she had to be anesthetized for a treatment, the problem has gotten far worse. You can see her waddling along and you hold your heart as it looks as if she’s going to fall over any minute. But it doesn’t happen.
“She’s doing well,” her owner says, “she moving a bit more often now”. For a little while, that was quite different. She was mostly lying on her floor pillow, as that didn’t involve any jumping. Luckily she’s doing much better since she’s gotten her medication. “As long as she’s doing well, she’s staying with me,” her loving owner says. And Donna is a cat to love!
For that reason, her owner got her a step stool. It took her a while to figure out the purpose of that new ornament. Placing her on the bottom step did the trick!
So these days, she’s scrambling up and down the step stool to get on and off her favourite chair. And when the sun shines, and no one is watching, she sometimes dares to jump up the couch to have a little nap.
She doesn’t jump on the bed anymore these days. But her owner has already ordered another stool for that purpose!
