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| Gilbert warming himself by the radiator |
Dan & I live in an upper flat, a split house with an upper and lower unit. It is an old house with radiant heat. On most cold days, Gilbert has a few hangouts to keep warm. He enjoys sunning himself in the window, snuggling up to Dan, then there is curling up to the radiator. Gilbert enjoys being warm, which is why I felt so bad for what I did the other day.
A few days ago, it was unusually warm for mid December. It was raining and in the upper 50's. Because of the mild weather I took it upon myself to do the cats monthly bathing. (How to Bath a Cat). I cleaned Gary first this time. Gilbert's fate was soon to follow.
Gilbert has grown into full cat hood. As I was bathing him, his little kitten meows of help had changed into full grown deep growls of frustration, powerful meows that resonated from his chest. I was so proud of him showing off his manliness, as I continued to scrub and scrub away. I cooed him as I said, "Aww looks at you! You aww growd ups! MMeeeoowww!" Gilbert responded with a wry look, like I was some mad woman.
I dried him off after his bath. He joined Gary in the living room as I jumped on the laptop to finish up some design work. I noticed from the corner of my eye, that Gilbert was huffing and puffing around. He went to his sunning window, but it was raining, no sun to warm him. He walked over to the radiator to warm up, the radiator was off because of the mild weather. Gilbert sighed. He walked over to his shoebox and plopped himself deeply into his box. He was shivering. I felt awful.
I ran to the linen closet and found the heating pad. I promptly plugged it in, set it on the back of the couch and waited for it to warm up. I watched poor Gilbert shiver in his box. He was pathetically trying to lick the water off his fur. I went to reach for him, he was grumpy at me and moved his head away. I swooped him into my arms and gently set him down on the heating pad.
Oh, was that nice! Gilbert just loved how warm it was! Oh, did he cuddle close to it's heat. Gilbert put his head down on it, warming his face. "How is that? All warm? Are we friends now?" I asked him. Gilbert blinked at me in a confirming yes. I scratched him behind his ear as he drifted off into his afternoon nap.
