Old Cat Gossip is about old cats. Old cats in general, and my old cat in particular.

My cat, like me, is growing old. Our habits have changed, we don’t care for loud noises and we like to meditate in a patch of morning sun. These days we are more sedentary.

We don’t cartwheel about anymore, we walk rather than run, step over obstacles rather than leap over them, we are early to bed and to rise, we like a little doze when the fancy takes us and we don’t want things changed too much in our daily surroundings. And I have to care for both of us.

This is where Vladimir and I learn together. Where I find out how to look after an old cat, with his different food likes and dislikes, his disconcerting voice-change and his often unpredictable behaviour.

Vladimir treats me with a sort of contemptuous pity shot through with flashes of pure affection. Sometimes flashes of pure rage. Overall, we get along together very well.

And we’re not so very different, both of us requiring some extra care in feeding and special attention to grooming. Then there’s our common obsession with comfy pillows.

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