Changes in my Life

by Mewsette

I am 16 years old, and I've had to adjust to many changes in my life. Not that I've had a hard life; I have not. I was born into my home and always loved and cared for. Some major changes I've had to deal with came when we all moved twice, once when I was 8 and again when I was 12. Or when Phelicity joined our family, and we 4 cats became 5. I didn't handle any of those very well, but they turned out to be good changes in spite of what I thought.

The hardest changes are when you lose a member of your cat family, and that has happened to me several times. The very worst is right now, because I lost my furmama only two weeks ago. I'm very lonely for her, and I'm doing the best I can, but I can't write that one.

I did adjust to one major change that I think a lot of cats have had, converting to being an indoor-only cat after you've been outside. Some cats like that change and some don't, depending on how they've lived. I did not like it, and it was the hardest thing I ever had to do until now.

For exactly half my life, I got to be outside a lot. We lived in the country, where there weren't a lot of dangers such as cars and catnappers. The ones there were I could handle. But when we moved away from my original home to the place I came to love on my mountain, I escaped and got lost for 2 weeks. My Mom was so afraid she'd never find me and lose me forever. I was in pretty sad shape by the time we did find each other. But I got over it, and was feeling better and wanting so bad to go out again, when I realized I was not going to be allowed outside again. Ever.

Well, I took it hard, unlike my fumama, who was perfectly content indoors by then, and my sisfur Phelicity, who had never set foot outside at all. I cried and wailed and carried on for months! The big outside and deep woods were calling to me so loud! I howled and battered at the doors all night and begged and pleaded all day, I prowled every inch of that house looking for holes, and tested every window, but they all had strong screens.

No, I guess I didn't handle that change very well, either. My Mom says she was sleep deprived for a whole year. But I'm glad to say I did get used to it, I did settle down, and I learned to be happy and content in the house. Believe me, if I, Mewsette, can become a contented indoor cat, there's not a cat alive who can't do it! And it has nothing to do with the fact that I was starting to get old!