Day 5: All about Halley

Between You, Me and the Lamp Post

Day 5: All about Halley

Yesterday I talked about Greyson a little in ‘Can cats talk’. Today it’s Halley’s turn as she is quite a character too.

Halley is about a year and a half old and right off the bat we knew we were going to have our hands full with her.

As an eight week old kitten, she was super energetic which the older cats Charlotte (16)and Holly (6) didn’t appreciate. That’s why we decided to adopt Greyson, as a playmate and it worked wonders. Charlotte and Holly were left in peace while Halley and Greyson got on like a house on fire.

As Halley grew up she developed some strange habits. She took an interest in computers, was a keen TV watcher, loved to jump in the first at every opportunity, enjoyed the outdoors, and most of all she liked to relax with Greyson.

Now, whenever one of us visits the bathroom, she comes flying out of nowhere to go with us. In the event that she’s out on the balcony and Dieter goes to the bathroom, all he has to do is call ‘Halley, are you coming?’ and she comes racing.

And it’s really weird. Anywhere outside the bathroom, Halley is a rather aloof cat. Doesn’t like to be petted and shrinks away when I reach for her. But in the bathroom, she’s all over me. She purrs, she stands on her hind legs to be petted, when stroked and tickled she can’t get enough, and even lies down in front of the door so I can’t get out. She's a totally different cat in these surroundings.

Unfortunately, she also has an annoying habit … just about every day she wakes us up at some ungodly hour. When she sees first light she jumps  on Dieter’s bed and taps him lightly on the nose. When he ignores her, she does it again and again. When he swats her paw away and turns over for a few more hours of sleep, she jumps off the bed ready for plan B.

She moves to the door, stands on her hind legs, raised her front paws to the door and puts all her bodyweight behind those paws, causing the door to slam shut.

After Dieter has gone out to work she moves to my bedroom and starts her nonsense with me with a few variations.

First she lies down next to me and purrs (loudly) in my ear.

When I turn over she comes and sits on me. With an estimated body weight of about 20 lbs that is nothing to sneeze at.

Still seated on top of me, she taps my nose a few times, followed by a lick and a soft bite. Cute as it may seem, at 6:00 a.m. I’m having none of it and I tell Halley in no uncertain terms to bugger off and let me sleep.

She, in turn, is having none of that. She jumps off the bed, goes to the door and slams it shut as previously described. Before long, she or one of the other cats want to go out and cry for the door to be opened.

Yesterday morning she was at it again and shortly after Halley had slammed the door, Holly wanted to go out. At first I tried to ignore her, but it’s impossible to ignore a crying cat, sooner or later you have to give in. So, I stumbled out of bed, let Holly out and on my way back I hit my shin on the corner of the bed. I’m now sporting a beautiful swollen blue bump on my leg.

Thinking that I was awake and ready to go Charlotte jumped on the bed, followed by Greyson. While Charlotte merely lies down next to me, Greyson trampled all over me in an effort to get to my ears. He likes to give kisses you see, and he kisses like the French … left, right, left.

In the end, I gave up and got up. Right outside the door, Halley was waiting for me, ready to accompany me for my morning shower.

What will the day bring ... who knows, with Halley there's never a dull moment.

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