Josie, my adolescent kitty

I have decided that maybe our one-year-old, Sweet Josie, is in sync with our thirteen-year-old daughter's stage in life...mood swings, emotional bursts and such.  And here's why...

Josie wants to be near me most of the time.  She may not want to be on my lap or touching any part of my body, but she will be within an arm's length. If I am knitting on the bed, she will curl up at the end of it.  If I'm on the couch or in the chair knitting or watching television, she will sit a few feet away or on the back of the couch.

Every morning, she joins me as I shower.  And no, she doesn't get in the shower with me, but 99% of the time, as long as I have left the door to the bathroom open a little, she will come in and sit between the shower curtain and liner while I shower.  I cannot resist poking and prodding her through the liner either.  Her fat little belly makes a bump that screams out to me like the Pillsbury Dough Boy.

Every night as soon as everyone has gone to bed and all of the lights are off, she jumps up on our bed and curls up near my legs or in between them...which is exactly what Meepie used to do.  If I'm cooking at the stove, she will get on one of the counter chairs and watch me.  It's at just the right level where she can sit on the chair and see over the counter.  When she hears me start the washing machine (she loves the water), she jumps up on the dryer and watches until the lid closes.

So that sounds all sweet and everything, I know, but now comes the irrational, moody, psycho adolescent part...from out of nowhere she will pounce on me, attack, bite, strike, whatever you want to call it.  I can be petting her for crying out loud, she'll start purring and suddenly strike at me like a venomous snake.  It's ridiculous.

I cannot walk around or near our bed without being attacked at the ankles.  She 'hides' under the bed (i.e. about one-third of her body is out of plain sight) and grabs at our feet repeatedly.  Going without socks is not an option.  If she is feeling ignored by the humans, she makes her presence known by knocking something off onto the floor, dragging out socks, scratching on the door frame or furniture, and has even stretched out in front of our television to block our view. 

This sweet kitty stalks or circles the area around her food dish and then drops single food pellets into her metal dish when it needs filled...making sure I notice she's hit the bottom.  She hovers around when we're snacking on something, waiting for the right moment to sneak a bite and might possibly even bat something out of our hand. 

It just dawned on me how very similar this behavior is when compared with our thirteen-year-old daughter.  It's like she wants to be around us, yet she acts like she hates us, we're stupid, we're annoying, but she needs us, you know, the typical stuff.  I suppose if she had fangs and claws, she might even strike. 

My hope is that the ratio of cat-to-human years is in my favor and that very, very soon, this too shall pass.  For now, please ignore the battle scars...