Time got away from me and now my boy is moving ever closer to double digits and Old Man Charlie.
I meant to make a post for every year of Charlie’s life, but now he’s less than a month away from his ninth birthday and I effectively missed year eight. Nothing much happened in Charlie’s life in the meantime, however his personality has changed quite a lot, almost as drastically as when he transitioned from a bold kitten into a more cautious adult.
In the true British Shorthair fashion, Charlie still hates being picked up and he will not sit on my lap unless in very specific circumstances, but at the same time he’s become more affectionate, needy and vocal. All I need to do is pat him slightly or even just look at him a bit more intently to get a harsh little meow. Most of the time, he simply wants attention, which is in shorter supply when I work from home. Charlie does nothing truly disruptive like walking all over the keyboard or trying to climb all over me, he just sits near me with a look of silent judgement:
Some cat owners are more resilient to emotional blackmail, but I end up giving Charlie a pinch of wet food at midday and the rest at around 4pm for a very early dinner.
Last November was quite an ordeal for Charlie. I went to Japan for a couple of weeks and leaving him with my friend wasn’t an option; I briefly considered a cattery before deciding that even the nicest cattery looked too much like kitty prison. In the end I found a pet sitter who could look after Charlie in his Prahran apartment. He was a lovely guy who seemed to genuinely love animals, but I underestimated how stressful a brand new environment would be for Charlie. According to the sitter, it took a few days for Charlie to emerge from under the bed and be his normal self.
On the positive side, if you can call it so, Charlie shed some of his excessive chonkiness, but it was a bit like me losing weight during the COVID-19 era while unemployed and stressed out: not exactly the healthiest way to go about it. In fact, I got worried when Charlie appeared to be losing even more weight throughout this year, but a (bloody expensive) blood test confirmed that this was just a normal weight fluctuation and nothing to worry about. I’m yet to experience any real health scare with Charlie, fingers crossed his good luck continues as he ages.
Charlie is still a curious boy. He loves nothing better than be in the middle of things when I pack and unpack my summer and winter clothes, or get the suitcase ready for a trip. He’s a sweet nuisance when I change the bed sheets and have to avoid the cat-shaped bump in the middle of the bed. And he still has his playful kittenish ways. Any time I find myself on the couch watching TV or reading, I have to multi-task and play with Charlie, either with the laser toy or the feather teaser.
Some of the entertainment purchases I did for Charlie turned out to be duds, but the cat tunnel remains an all-time favourite:
