Intuitive

Marius was sick while we were in Pune. His main symptom was unfortunately diarrhea. Being a baby, he didn’t really know how to keep his backside clean, so it wound up chapped and sore (TMI, I know, but bear with me). I had to clean him up a couple of times, which involved holding his poor little bum in a bucket of warm water. Of course, this was not a pleasant experience for him. Warm water on raw skin is never a nice feeling. And bathing a cat under the best circumstances is not easy. I’ve wound up with some lovely cuts (sarcasm there, I’m actually not a fan of pain…) after bathing cats.

But Marius was different. Even being a baby, he still knew that I was the person that he liked, and he didn’t want to hurt me. So even as he was crying and wiggling around trying to get out of the water, he was very careful with his teeth and claws. He used his back feet against my hands to try to push himself out of the water, but was very gentle, and careful to not dig in too much, even though that meant he couldn’t actually push himself out of the water. At times, when it hurt more, he’d turn, growling, with his mouth wide open to bite my hand. Before he chomped down on a finger though, he paused, as though realizing what he was about to bite. Then he stopped and turned away, without touching my hand at all. He did this several times, which showed more control than I have ever seen in a kitten.

After the bath, when Marius was chilly, wet, and upset, all he wanted was a long cuddle. He climbed right up my chest and burrowed his nose into my neck like, “Hide me, Mom… the whole world hates me.” He knew that I was the one who just stuck him in the water, but he still wanted to be comforted by me. And of course, this made me feel like an even worse human being for being the one to hurt him, even though I knew it was what he needed.

A while later, after Marius was healthy once again, I fell sick. It was a very short lived sickness, one that only last about 12 hours. I was dizzy and nauseous. Any time I moved, I felt as though I would throw up, though I never actually did. Night was the worst though. I was very tired, as one often is when sick, so I went to bed. But sleep didn’t come.

I’ve only had one other night such as that one, which was a night when I had a bad reaction to my malaria medicine several years ago. I ached all over as though I had the flu, still felt nauseous, and even if I did get a little sleep, it was full of vivid dreams and not refreshing in the least.

We were in Ooty when this happened. It was cold, and at bedtime, Marius usually dove under the covers and snuggled down, focused on his own contentment. This time, he didn’t go under the covers at all, but stayed on top of them, snuggled firmly against my shoulder. Marius also typically slept the night through, cuddling up against me in his sleep, but not really waking unless he needed a drink of water or some such. But this night, he seemed very attentive to what I was doing. I would wake up, feeling feverish and achy and like I couldn’t breathe properly. Sometimes I’d toss and turn, trying to get some sort of position that was relatively comfortable, but other times, I’d barely move at all. Any way that I woke though, whether I moved or was still, Marius woke too. He’d grab my face with his paw, and start cleaning it very gently. Then he’d often drape himself across my neck and finish cleaning my face, then lay there on my neck until I fell asleep. It doesn’t sound like it would help too much, but somehow, it made it much easier to fall asleep. The next time I woke, Marius would be back by my shoulder, ready to help me back to sleep once more.

I’ve never had such an intelligent, intuitive kitten before. Perhaps it comes from his upbringing, and the fact that he’s spent nearly 24/7 with me since the day that I found him. Maybe he is just brilliant. Oh, he still has plenty of kittenish naughtiness when he wants to, but that’s what makes him interesting. I probably would have claimed before to be a dog person, but really, species makes no difference. Anyone I can connect with like this makes me happy.

Of course, then he falls in love with a cow pie and I have to wonder how smart he really is...