by Maria Ragan

Created on: March 18, 2009

School finals, empty-nest syndrome, eight years of alone time, and my dog is fifteen. I needed some nuturing, something to help fill in the gaps. I needed "something." I thought, I will get a little, sweet , playful, kitty. Maybe it was the name change this kitten resented. I had meant to call her Mattie. My grandsons started calling her Baby TT, and it stuck. Well. Baby TT, isn't a kitten anymore and I think I am more frazzled than before. Baby TT bites. My cat loving neighbor told me she was teething. She assured me, she would stop after a firm no. It didn't work, she bit me more and thumped her back legs against my arm. Love bites, my neighbor said. Well, I started praising Baby TT when she didn't bite, and it helped a little. Now, she will crawl up near my face and purr sweetly, and knead my upper chest. I can't be too trusting though. She can look at me with a drunken, love gaze and when I reach to pat her little head, she will deliver a bite that will nip the fire out of all my motherly instincts,

I am a stubborn soul and decided I would overlook this feline biting fetish she had. Well, it hasn't been that easy. Biting was just one of Baby TT's bad habits. I had the clean copies of my writing finals on my livingroom table and decided to go over and have a quick cup of coffee with my neighbor, when I returned, there were grubby paw prints all over my papers. Baby TT had got in the flower pot and dug around and commensed to prance her dirty paws all over my papers. I wanted to scream.

My grandsons have legos at my house, and I don't know when Baby TT fell in love with these little toys. I would start to put on my shoes in the morning and both shoes would have legos in them. Once, after a little round with her biting, she approached me with an odd look on her face, it appeared she had something in her mouth. She crawled up on my chest and dropped a lego on my chest, as if to say , "I am sorry". I found this little peace offering endearing, perhaps that was the day I decided I loved the cat in spite of her zany disposition.

Baby TT steals my gloves and hides them in one of her secret hiding places. She also jumps up on the bathroom counter and steals my favorite arrowhead necklace. I find things that are important to me in the weirdest places. I thought maybe she didn't have enough toys, so I bought her more. She liked them, but she always seems to go back to the hide and seek games with my stuff.

I had a Valentine's party for my elderly neighbors. I wondered

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