“A trouble shared is a trouble doubled” – that’s an expression used by Iain at Posted Notes. I don’t know why I remembered his use of it; I suppose I was much struck.
When I lost his address and was writing out Christmas cards a year or two back, I thought I could find him if I Googled him. His blog showed up. Now, I know it’s not that uncommon a name, and sometimes you find somebody who isn’t the person you’re looking for. But there was something about the style of this blog that told me right away it was the right Iain… especially when I stumbled across that self-same expression about sharing problems.
Anyway, I doubled mine a couple of nights ago – I was worried because my new kitten (the Invisible Sulk) was still hiding several days after being brought home. He wasn’t eating a lot – just a little dry food, ignoring the nice ‘wet food’ from pouches and tins. Even Mum’s cat Cheeky couldn’t coax him out. She just ate his food, sat around, got bored, and left.
My solution… getting another kitten!
Not just any kitten; this was one well known to the Sulk; she’s two months younger than he is but they were playmates. She was very friendly and active, and sat on my chest licking my neck. We thought maybe she would help the Sulk relax, and coax him out to play.
The kitten’s breeder (Kristin) said there had been someone after the same girl I was after, but she didn’t ring up to confirm her visit. After a few days, Kristin decided she had been given enough time, and the kitten was available again.
I thought about it a little. I felt mean taking a kitten that maybe someone else had set her heart on… on the other hand I did see and like her before the other person even thought of ringing up, and had put in a sort of bid earlier, only to find this other person had just rung in. The kitten was as much mine as anyone else’s, especially with an Invisible Sulk crying for his old friends… that would drive anybody to desperation!
So I put in my claim again… and now she’s here.
It worked really well, actually – I couldn’t go out, so the breeder came over with the kitten (shouting in her basket), and the Invisible Sulk immediately came out from behind his curtain and was all over both Kristin and the kitten. All the time he purred and made up to Kristin, he looked round her at me, as though to say “there’s that Bugaboo who thought she owned me.”
A few times he stretched across the space between us to sniff my slipper, waving his tail nonchalantly. “There, you see,” said Kristin, rolling her eyes, “he’s completely cool!”
The kittens ran around the room and licked at the food, then Kristin went home. Suddenly the room was deserted. I looked around at the brooding silence and thought “what have I just done? Did I add to my troubles?”
Mum came home and said “did it work?”
“It did at first, then Kristin went home, and they BOTH hid.”
“Oh dear – maybe we should try keeping Kristin.”
Why does this remind me of There Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly?
There was an old woman who got hold of a Sulk…
I don’t know why she got hold of that Sulk.
There was an old woman who got hold of a Flitter
That wriggled and jiggled behind the drapes.
She got hold of the Flitter to coax the Sulk.
But I don’t know why she got hold of that Sulk.
There was an old woman who kidnapped Kristin
How absurd, to kidnap Kristin!
She kidnapped Kristin to coax the Flitter
That wriggled and jiggled behind the drapes.
She got hold of the Flitter to coax the Sulk.
But I don’t know why she got hold of that Sulk.
Living in Scotland, UK; I work from home as an editor and pet-minder. I was born profoundly deaf and am no stranger to agoraphobia. I began renting out my house and have moved upstairs at my mother’s place. I used to have an Oriental Ticked Tabby (
