Was reading and commenting on ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ar_wahan journal, about her new cat, and his lack of a name. Got me thinking about Max.
Max didn't like his previous owner. She had too many dogs, and her dog area was always dirty. He wasn't allowed in the human area, where things were clean. She called him Midnight.
I kinda rescued him, I guess. His owner asked me to take him in, because she thought he would get along well with my lab, Molly. I have a thing for black cats, so I said yeah. I brought him home, and called to him "Midnight"... while he was exploring the house. He wouldn't answer, and the vibe was VERY strong that THAT was NOT his name. So I kept trying M words, and when I came to Max, he stopped in his tracks, and looked at me. Meowed, and came to me. I don't think he expected me to guess it right.
He liked me, I think, but didn't love me. He appreciated that I kept the house neat, and let him go outside a lot. But he'd bite my little toe as he walked along the end of the bed, if it was sticking out of the covers. He would climb onto my lap and lay across it (yeah, I had a lap then. This was before Scarlett came along) he'd dig in his claws as I stroked him. And he always bit me when he was 'done'.
Max also harassed Molly. Molly was quite possibly the most gentle dog that ever existed. She didn't even bark for the first year that I had her. She wouldn't wander through the apartment, because all the floors were hardwood, and she couldn't maneuver them. Her paws would slide out from under her. So she would come in, get on the sofa, and stay there to sleep on her corner, then I'd let her out in the morning. She stayed outside most of the day, unless I was home. Then it was in, out, in out. Anyway, she NEVER EVER came into any other part of the house. Just the living room, and only a small area from door to sofa.
Well, one night right after Max came, I heard a noise. Not a cry so much as just a 'clearing of the throat' with a little whine thrown in. Almost DIDN'T hear it, because I was in my bedroom, and quite a distance from the living room. I got up, and there was Molly, splay-legged just inside the kitchen door, with the most pathetic look on her face. PLEASE please? Come and rescue me? I was aghast that she had come that far, as she clearly had difficulty getting there, so I followed her back to the living room, trying to help her get across the floor. And there was Max, curled in HER corner of the sofa. Sniggering into his tail. She wouldn't bark at him, she wouldn't get too close, cause he'd probably smacked her nose already. She just came and told on him. And I picked him up and said "Oh no you don't! She earned that spot!" And he ran off, mad. Never did it again, tho. He'd just curl up on the other end. Or sleep with her, snuggled against her butt.
Okay. In other news, met a squirrel today. There's a huge tree at the end of my dumpster, right against it. To get into the dumpster, I walk past the mailboxes, and they're right at my back. I turned around after putting trash in this morning, and there was this itty bitty squirrel, staring at me from the top of the mailboxes. He ducked when he saw me, then popped his head back up when I spoke to him. He jumped past me, aiming for the dumpster, but missed and landed on the ground just past my feet. Of course ran straight up the tree. But he was SO very small, so amazingly close to me. He must have been a baby.
Well, I'm going to go do some work now. I'm feeling quite disgusted with the whole world today, but can't put my finger on why. Probably a combination of Scarlett failing another test, my earrings making my neck hurt, being lonely, my house looking like shit, and PMS. Oh, and it's cold out. And my jeans are tight.
