If Cats Could Talk (Part 2): Having a Brother

This article is part of a series written from the perspective of Kerly's cat, DJ. You can read Part 1 here.

Back by popular demand. Guess who's back, back again...

I heard that people were missing me, so I thought I'd share another story.

Mum decided that it was a great idea for me to have a brother. She talked about it every day, telling me how he would make good company for me.

My brother arrived one Friday evening in May; the disruption of my life started when my peaceful break at my grandma's was cut short and I was taken back home to meet him.

I couldn't even get a nap

A white Turkish Angora cat with a massive fluffy tail arrived with his family. His name was Mavi, which means blue in Turkish — which is ironic since he was white. He was 1 year old and already the same size as me, and I am 7. Can you imagine?

He followed me everywhere — oh my gosh, everywhere. He shadowed me. This quickly became annoying. He wasn't bothered with Mum, but he was very bothered with me, constantly following me everywhere. I couldn't even get a nap; he would be trying to wake me up. He was so loud, always crying to go to the bedroom window. Then he would walk to the kitchen and cry. Then he would walk to the living room window and cry some more. He did this all day long, taking naps for maybe half an hour now and then.

He stayed with us for 16 days before mum had enough.

My daily routine with Mum

Mum and I have a routine: she wakes up, feeds me, then does the litter. She takes her meds, has breakfast, then gets really tired, and then she has to have a nap so we go and have a nap together. This happens every day.

In the afternoon, she might go out. When she comes back home, she washes her hands, has some water, and then it's time to nap again. In the evening, we have another nap, and then I have to wake her at 6 PM so she can feed me and feed herself.

The new cat didn't want to follow our routine

To get him to be quiet, Mum would walk Mavi on a leash like a dog. One time, I was under the car in the parking lot, watching to my heart's content. It was hilarious.

Mavi was not neutered. Being neutered helps a cat become calmer. Mavi was spraying urine around the flat, and that was very stressful for Mum.

Because of narcolepsy, Mum has a heightened sense of smell. She was starting to get headaches from the smell of urine. All the extra cleaning was making her very tired and very stressed. Mavi was always crying, even at night, which disturbed her already bad sleep.

In the evening at about 11 PM, Mum takes the medicine that comes in the orange bottle, and then she says night-night and we go to bed. Mavi didn't want to follow our routine.

Some good things came out of Mavi's time here

It all got too much for Mum at 16 days in, and the family we got him from came and took him back just as I was starting to like him a little. I had gotten to the point where I would sit with him, and if he could sit quietly for a little bit, we could sit together. We would chase each other around the house, and I did have fun chasing him around and stopped chasing Mum (usually I chase her — she needs exercise).

Some good things came out of Mavi being here. When Mavi left, Mum had this big machine that made a funny noise — a massive monster that eats up things. This made the carpet all wet, and we had to go to Grandma's for a day and a night because the carpet had to dry. When we came home, there was a surprise awaiting me: the carpet was lovely. It smelled so clean. That was the best smell since I moved in.

Stress can worsen narcolepsy symptoms

The lesson I learned from Mavi's story is not to take on more than you can bear. Message to Mummy: 'I  am enough'. I don't need a brother, even though I thought it would be fun to have one. I don't need a brother if he is going to make you stressed, make you have more cataplexy attacks, or make you not sleep well at night.

Is there something you chose to do that you thought would benefit you or your pet that ended up making your narcolepsy worse?

Until next time, fans. -DJ