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April 3, 2007
Another Funny Thing About Irving
As I might have mentioned 4,000 other times, Irving is an obsessive compulsive cat. Clinically. Like diagnosed. While his licking as been reduced* as a result of his medication, his extreme preoccupation with random spaces in the house has not. I have never seen an animal so obsessed with specific spots-- and then, as quickly as he becomes affixed to them, he cannot bear to be near them.
Irving Spots always start the same way. Suddenly, he will appear on the bookshelf, on the rug near the litter box, the left far corner of the couch or, like the other night, the bottom left corner of the bed, right on my feet. Previously, he was mortally afraid of these places. You could not have paid him in yogurt to sit on our bed 48 hours ago, however this morning removing him from it was like placing a high powered magnet several feet away from a block of metal and watching it speed back toward its attraction, knocking over any obstacle in its path. When we tried to put him on the floor so that we could make the bed, he threw his ears back, grasped the comforter with his claws like life depended on it and emitted one of the most pathetic yowls I've ever heard. He literally dozes there for 22 out of 24 hours of the day, immovable.
I welcome Irving's appearance on the bed to some extent; it is kind of like the good old days when we had a normal number of cats in our living spaces and none of them had psychological issues. The downside, however, is that in his obsession, Irving has managed to overthrow the Robette bed monarchy. All other potential feline bed occupants are greeted with a hiss that sends them packing. It is as if he has planted his bald bellied flag in the ground and declared the bed Irving Territory...that is, until he suddenly finds that same spot unbearable and abandons it for some other odd space in the house. I should have applied for a cat psychology program instead of American Studies.
* Note that I say REDUCED, which means that he licks himself slightly less constantly than before. But still constantly.
Posted by callalillie at April 3, 2007 1:07 PM | Feline Musings
I think your Irving and my Dub were separated at birth.
Posted by: jenblossom at April 4, 2007 10:58 AM
He kinda resembles alf in this photo.
Posted by: tatiana at April 4, 2007 12:20 PM
Posted by: corie at April 4, 2007 12:58 PM
Posted by: discostu at April 4, 2007 3:06 PM
Posted by: Vickie at April 4, 2007 4:15 PM
i assume there's an orange fur patch on the bed if he does get up?
Posted by: tien at April 4, 2007 5:48 PM
Posted by: Sally at April 4, 2007 6:57 PM
Irving is your only male cat, correct? According to our vet, male cats do much better in multi-cat households when there is another male cat for them to buddy around with. The boy cats will pair up and partake in all sorts of shenanigans.
I dunno if another cat would help Irving, though. And five cats is a lot of cats.
Posted by: Vic at April 6, 2007 1:05 PM
That's really interesting. I wonder how he'd do with another guy cat. We could adopt Ferris, aka Sargeant Pickles, from our local bar. I love that cat.
Actually, if we had 5 cats I would probably want to die.
Posted by: corie at April 6, 2007 1:11 PM
