Pet Stories Blog

Linda Fortune

Author of Regal: An Intimate View of One Magnificent Feline

Welcome back!

    Feeling refreshed from my vacation, I am excited about continuing to share The Evolution of Tux and Linda with you. And, might I add, we are getting to the beautiful steps of Tux’s transformation…..and mine too.

     As you may remember, I had been working on building a relationship with Tux.  This usually meant trying to get close to her by following up her upstairs and then lying on the floor and reaching out with my hand as she crouched under the bed. She was very leery of anyone except Margie and she kept her distance by huddling right in the middle area under the bed.

     On one particular morning, about the fourth day into my routine, I again approached Tux who was lying at her ususal spot on the end of the couch as I arrived. She let me sit at the opposite end of the couch and I stretched my hand out to give her the opportunity for a friendly sniff. As was common, and with her typical explosion of energy, she immediately made her mad-dash-run up to her safety spot under Margie’s bed. Then, as was typical of me, I followed her upstairs. Talking with my soothing voice and finding my prone position, I again reached out with my arm and and hand, trying to get close, to let her get familiar with my scent.

     Tux sniffed as usual but, instead of pulling her head away, she totally surprised me by literally diving her head right into my hand. My heart silently yelped, “She wants to be touched!” With a sense of awe and excitement, I immediately scratched behind her ears, on her cheeks, under her chin, and on the top of her head. She moved her head vigorously, pressing hard into my hand, and inviting my continued scratches. She then rolled her body so that her back was totally towards me. I was amazed that she would place her back to me. Moving in ecstasy with saliva gathering on her lips, she let me scratch and scratch while rolling her body back and forth. Obviously she wanted to be touched and, I’m sure, had been missing Margie’s physical presence immensely.

      My thoughts went to how vulnerable she was, and yet, how confident she must have felt to place her back to me. My heart was deeply touched. And then, as quickly as she had engaged my touch, she disengaged. The swift, defensive swat of her claws once again drew blood. I pulled my hand back feeling startled but, at the same time, understanding. It was almost like she could only take so much pleasure and then had to reestablish her guard.

     It seemed like something had shifted in our relationship that day or, at least, she wanted to be touched so much that she took a chance with me. As I reflected upon it, it had been about a month since Margie had gone to Montana and Tami, the house/pet sitter, had arrived. Regardless of what caused the shift, I was thrilled and feeling elated, immediately went down to the bathroom to again administer first-aid. I was filled with much excitement with what had just happened.

     When I left the house that morning, I continued to feel the wonder and hope of Tux’s small shift. Little did I know that something far more significant had started to happen within me. I was still unconscious as to the deeper effect that Tux’s head dive would eventually have upon my being.

Next entry: Consultation with my vet.

With blessings, Linda