The cats, two by two

PalmaCats always come into my family in pairs. You adopt one and, before long, my sister is already placing a second one on us. It might be because it’s from a litter where it was the only one not nursing and, of course, it’s going to die. “Just keep it for a couple of days”… And a couple of days means forever.

When my pair of cats died, I waited a few months before going to Son Reus. Upon arriving at the kennel, in cage 40, there he was. At first sight. An orange cat. Give me a sort of Garfield and there are no other cats possible for me. I saw him and didn't want to approach the others. He had an eye problem. They told me it was nothing important. Probably a common herpes. But it wasn’t. The vet referred me to the ophthalmologist. I didn’t even know there were specialists of that level for cats. Autoimmune disease. Lifelong treatment. A small tube of ointment of 3.5 grams (about the size of a Loctite glue tube) for 65 euros. Fantastic. Now, the autoimmune disease has moved to the pads of his paws, which are cracking. More financial woes.

At Son Reus, they knew they had rescued him from a squatted house. I understood then that carefree character, why he was so affectionate from the first day, and his obsession with escaping. He would go out onto the rooftops at night and return during the day. But I had to put an end to the nightly excursions upon hearing his ferocity towards another stray and the screams of a bitter neighbor just because he was walking elegantly along the wall of her terrace. He broke his nose bumping against the net I put on the windows and now he looks like a retired boxer. A very dignified one.

A few months later, they brought me Nápole, a Siamese mix just a couple of months old, fearful and skittish, who has taken God and help to calm down and get to stop peeing from stress. I always end up with the same pairs of cats (before it was Cabrón and Taylor): the calm scoundrel and the flighty one who jumps at the slightest noise.

I like the independence of cats, that each one is different. Nápole rolls onto his back for me to pet him, but he tenses up if you pick him up in your arms. So, only on the floor. Pepino, on the other hand, you tuck him in, pat his bottom, and he falls asleep like a baby. One kneads your belly and sleeps on you; the other does it nearby, on the sofa. Sometimes, there is no better anxiolytic.