Lasagna (The Cat Not The Food)

I’m going to take a little break from baby chat and talk about my other baby, Lasagna (you thought I was going to talk about Marcus, didn’t you?). She’s our 1 year old cat who came into our lives shortly after we married. How she came into our lives isn’t much of a story though it basically involved me calling Marcus’s bluff and actually proceeding with getting a kitten. For ages I had begged Marcus for a puppy or a kitten…life just wasn’t complete without a furry body to snuggle. Marcus relented, though only a little, when he said I could get a kitten after we married. So, about a month after we married I began searching through Craigslist looking for just the right kitten. I don’t know what drew me to Lasagna other than she was tiny and fluffy and looked rather pathetic and just dying to be adopted. There was also a catch to my getting a pet which was that I would be the sole provider while Marcus could simply bask in the joys of being a pet owner. This came back to bite him in the butt when I got pregnant and he was thus on kitty-litter box duty for the next nine months.

In my attempt to turn Lasagna into the kind of cat I dreamed of, the kind of cat that sits for hours on your lap and rubs affectionately against your legs, it is my belief that I over-loved her as a kitten. I loved her so much that as she grew she began to reject me and turn towards Marcus. As it is Marcus is of the “take her or leave her” mentality which probably prompted her to turn towards him even more; she had to work for his love and by golly she did her best! So now, a year later, we have a cat who could care less for me (other than when I forget to feed her), and who adores Marcus so much it’s sickening.

Case in point: Marcus is currently on travel in Japan. He’s been gone for a week now and it’s just been Lasagna and me hanging out, kicking back, and painting each other’s toenails. Or, it’s the complete opposite. Usually when Marcus is home Lasagna sleeps on the bed with us. You can typically find her curled up next to him. Occasionally I wake-up to find her next to me but I suspect Marcus puts her there to make me feel better. Now, with Marcus gone, Lasagna does not even try to sleep on the bed and if she is it’s on his side at the very corner of the foot of the bed. In other words: As far away from me as possible.

I’ve also noticed she’s grown a little paunchier as time goes by. Being a housecat probably compounds to any sort of weight gain but she has certainly filled-out over the last few months. I have two theories other than her simply being a lazy housecat: 1. She’s been overeating to drown her sorrows because her beloved isn’t around and she doesn’t know why or, 2. Unwittingly she’s packing on the sympathy pounds. Either way the fluff of a fat belly is hard to resist and it takes much self-control (of which I'm greatly lacking) to not pick her up and snuggle my face into the deliciousness. This of course has nothing to do with her continued hatred towards me. Nothing at all. It also has nothing to do with the picture below...

I can haz dignity back?