Feline Tantrum
Posted Fri, 09/07/12
Kiki hasn't had one of her major fits for more than a year. I should have known it was too good to last forever. The thing to remember about Kiki is that she is entirely unpredictable. Something that enrages her one day might not get a reaction from her the next day. She is a complete freak of nature, slightly unhinged at times, but I love her just the same.
Yesterday I was using my hand-vacuum to clean the stray litter around the edges of her litter box, a task I've done many times before without incident. Kiki doesn't like the vacuum, so she normally takes off for the closet or hunkers down on the window ledge and glowers while I clean. This time she headed for the closet, so I didn't think any more about it. I was just about finished when she suddenly came charging out of the closet onto the bed with ears flat against her head, eyes round and dark, and her mouth open in a snarl.
I thought she was just playing at first, until I saw the demonic expression on her face. She was perched on the corner of the bed, leaning over to take popping swipes at me with open claws. She was also growling and hissing as if the hounds of hell were on her heels, although I was the object of her attack. I waved the whirring vacuum in her face, which seemed to infuriate her even more. Next, I grabbed the tall water bottle on the bed stand, but this also did little to calm her rage. She merely jumped to the floor and positioned herself between the bed and closet door. Every time I tried to leave the room she came charging out again, taking swipes at my ankles and cat-screaming at the top of her lungs.
The picture below is not Kiki, but the expression on the cat's face is nearly identical to the one Kiki had during her fit yesterday:
A task that should have taken just mere seconds stretched out to forty minutes as I made repeated attempts to exit the room. Every time I tried to leave, Kiki came out in full psychotic barrel to block my path to the bedroom door. It might have been comical considering I was terrified of an eight-pound cat, but I was too concerned about one of her sharp claws opening a major artery to have a laugh at the time. Finally, finally, she backed off and I was able to escape the room without a scratch.
Kiki has always adored my mother. It was love at first sight for both of them when they first met five years ago. Therefore, I brought my Mum back to the room to see how Kiki would react to her following the feline meltdown. Not surprisingly, Kiki was all sweetness and light when she saw my mother. It was also a clear sign the psychotic crisis had thankfully passed.
I took the above photo the first time Mum and Kiki met, which occurred on June 18, 2007 at my home in Spokane.
I'm still not certain what set off Kiki's tantrum yesterday, but by last night all was forgotten. She was loving and innocent once more, taking her place behind my legs in bed as we drifted to sleep together.
*RELATED POSTS:
Tags: Kiki; Photos & Other Images