Held Hostage by a Cat or Cats

I heard a story on the radio today about a family that was being held hostage by its cat.  Not knowing what to do, they called 911 and the animal rescue squad saved them.  Hmmm.  http://www.theamericanmirror.com/audio-woman-calls-911-report-shes-held-hostage-cat/  As I searched for this story, there were other stories that that appeared that were about the same problem.

This morning, well before my alarm went off, Haiku was attacking me in bed. She kept slapping at me. At my face, at my nose, at my lips. Once she caught my eyelid.  This started about 4 AM, and about 5:30 AM, I got up and put fresh food in her food dish (there was already dry food in that dish, dry food in another dish, and wet food in 2 other dishes.)  She ate a few pieces of dry food, decided she had enough, and returned to bed, satisfied.  I really try not to feed the cats in the middle of the night because once makes a tradition. Haiku is not usually that assertive, and I probably should have responded sooner, but I really thought there was food available to her, and there was. I am not sure what the problem was.

I can relate to feeling like being held hostage by a cat, or cats. Today, I ran errands in the morning, then went out to lunch. When I came home from lunch, I went to the bathroom. Both Taki and Haiku joined me, crowded me, and Haiku tried to climb on me. She has started doing this more and more.  I felt accosted by cats.

Because I earn large amounts of annual leave, and it converts to sick leave if I do not use it, I have been taking a lot of time off recently. So, the cats have become used to me being home more. They really seem to not just like it but expect it.  On a Saturday or Sunday, when I am gone running errands, my return home is greeted with much attention and anxiousness, maybe even consternation. As if I should not have been gone.

Both Taki and Haiku seem to want to be near me.  Haiku seems to prefer my sitting on the sofa, reading. Usually when I am reading, the TV is off, and I either listen to NPR on the radio or some mellow sort of music.  Haiku will join me in the computer room, too, especially if Taki is not there.

Taki does not show a preference for location. She is an equal opportunity location cat. She just likes to sit with me. She does really well for a while, and even likes to sit on me.  Then, all of a sudden, she has to attack me. Her need to attack me has become less and less frequent, but still occurs. (We are working on it.)

Having said all that, I can conceive an eventuality in which I might be held hostage by my cats!