Charlie the Cat at Six

I can’t believe how fast time flies. It feels like only yesterday Charlie was a tiny enchanting kitten, and now he’s already knocking at the doors of middle age.

Charlie’s life hasn’t undergone any major upheavals in 2023, except for the annual trip to my friend’s apartment in Fairfield, where he stayed for three weeks while I was away in Morocco and Portugal. My friend told me later that during this time Charlie developed a weird obsession with door hinges, and one day managed to lock himself in a bathroom while my friend was at work. He can be such a silly boy still.

Doors in general seem to fascinate Charlie for some reason. In the mornings, he likes to watch the mirrored wardrobe doors slide when I’m getting ready for work, and I eventually had to put wedges under all doors in my apartment after I got tired of being awakened by the sound of slamming doors.

Overall though Charlie seems to have enjoyed his holiday, and his own version of exotic sightseeing from the windows. It took him longer than usual to get used to normality after he was back in my apartment; he wasn’t hostile but his behaviour was along the lines of, just leave me alone and let me recover emotionally please!

Speaking of obsessions, Charlie’s most current thing is to stare at the wall in my bedroom, watching the play of light and shade. I’ve no idea what he sees there that I can’t, but he can sit mesmerised for hours, occasionally stretching and pawing at the wall.

There were no major crimes or misdemeanours last year: no plants mauled to near-death, no broken pottery. A couple of times, I came home to discover disgusting hairballs on the carpet in the living room, but that is simply normal cat maintenance. He still keeps chewing on my big plant, but I could never catch him in the act.

Charlie now has two cardboard boxes at his pleasure, which I just don’t have the heart to throw out. The tunnel also remains a perennial favourite.

You can never predict what cats will take to next. After pretty much ignoring the cat tree for the last couple of years, Charlie decided he liked it after all. Now, when I work from home, I sometimes look behind me to see Charlie observe me haughtily from his top spot, like some sort of hard-ass manager.