One of the most important companionships in my life involves my cat Jellona. She is not only the kindest cat I’ve ever seen, she’s also the smartest. She never scrapes anything else than the old sofa that’s hers. She takes care of herself and us others as well. She’s a carbon black charming old lady in age of fifteen and she’s my idol, my teacher and my best friend.
When she was a baby, she lived with a very well trained golden retriever. They did everything together. When the dog was dying and couldn’t move anymore Jellona fed her by bringing food to her and they slept cheek by jowl to the end. Jellonas heart broke when she lost her best friend. As the family felt sad too they found it too difficult to keep a depressed cat and asked if my family would take her. That’s how she came in to my life.
Raised by a dog, she still has a lot doggish habits. She rolls over on her back on the ground and she gives paw when she wants food. In the summer our mailbox is kept eye on by our watch-cat lying under it. She also eats like a dog but that might be only because she loves food like my whole family does.
She plays piano too. She has still some learning to do with it, but it’s funny to watch. She would never be able to be walked like a dog in a harness because that’s just not acceptable for her highness. She is equal member in this family and she knows it. Sometimes I might shout hey, close the door as you leave, and then I remember that yeah right, I’m talking to a cat. I mean she would if she could reach the door handle.
One time she kept meowing to my father and led him in to my little brother’s room. She kept howling hard in front of the fireplace and got us all wondering what is it she’s trying to say. Finally my father realized that maybe he forgot to open the hatch of the fireplace and went checking. It turned out Jellona saved us all. The hatch was closed and there must have been already quite much carbon monoxide in the air. Fortunately she could either smell it or just sense it somehow.
We have remarkable understanding. When she goes out at night I put on the outdoor light and when she’s ready to come in she makes a sound by jumping on a tin-window board. When my boyfriend went to the army and I clearly felt a bit sad and lonely, Jellona jumped into my bed and slept beside me embracing me, filling the empty place he had left. That was her way to cheer me up and show that I wasn’t alone. When me and my brothers were kids Jellona licked our tears away if we cried. Usually she takes the underdogs side in every situation, that’s a case in point how we, people, have something to learn from animals.
Just like me, she hates getting her feet dirty or wet so winter is not her favourite season. Although she loves Christmas. Getting together is the best thing there is for a sociable cat: so many laps to get to since she’s starved for affection. When Jellona was a young cat, we put old decorations to lower part of the Christmas tree, because she loved to play with them. Now that she is advanced in years she contents just lying under the tree, taking deep breaths of it’s smell and checking admiringly interesting presents under it, knowing there’s one for her too, of course.
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