Cosmo the Quacking Cat

Y’all.  I have a cat who quacks.  Seriously.

Cosmo and Lockwood are Maine Coon cats.  That means they’re BIG.  Lockwood weighs upwards of 20 pounds.  Cosmo has lost a lot of weight recently--he’s now a svelte 12 pounds.  But he still LOOKS big.  These cats come with a LOT of hair, long bodies, and huge plumes for tails.  It’s after seeing them that most people laugh when they hear their tiny little mews to communicate.  It’s like a little mouse squeak coming out of a big bulldog.

But sometimes…  Sometimes when Cosmo wants something… he quacks.  LOUDLY.  Consistently.  Irritatingly.  And at 3:00 am, when I’m already having a hard enough time staying asleep?  I wonder how he doesn’t get drop-kicked down the stairs.

Sometimes he quacks because he’s hungry or bored.  Most of the time he quacks because he’s thirsty.  In the middle of the night, I yell at him when he quacks because he’s thirsty.  Don’t think I’m a horrible person, though.  They have a water fountain down in the kitchen where there is constantly running water.  He just wakes up at night and wants water from the River of Kitty Life… i.e. the bathtub faucet.  He doesn’t stop quacking until I get up and turn the water on for him.  Usually that means a trip to the bathroom for me, and some time checking Facebook.  My 3:00 am posts?  Blame Cosmo.

I will sit on my bed or stand by the sink until he finishes drinking.  When he’s done, I ALWAYS expect a “Thanks, Mommy!”  Some sort of head butt, rubbing my leg, hopping on the bed to snuggle for a minute… But I get nothing.  NOTHING.  He saunters out of the bathroom without a care in the world, looking for his Mousie and jumping on his brother to wake him up to play.  I’m left grumpy and tired, and wide awake now.

“Darn ungrateful cat!” I think.  “Doesn’t he understand that I give him everything he needs to live?!  A water fountain AND the bathtub faucet?  This cat is SPOILED!”

And then I hear the voice of my Savior.

“What is the way to the abode of light?

   And where does darkness reside?

Can you take them to their places?

   Do you know the paths to their dwellings?

Surely you know, for you were already born!

   You have lived so many years!”  (Job 38: 19-21)

God gets a little sarcastic here, which makes me love Him that much more.  In part, it's a reminder to Job, Job’s crazy friends, and to me and you, that we have SO MUCH to be grateful for in our own lives.  That our Lord CREATED everything, even the things we take advantage of and are never grateful for… like running water.  There are places on this earth where people do NOT have access to the water that we, and Cosmo, take so for granted.

So… the next time that Cosmo quacks at me and I’m tempted to get exasperated and tell him to be more grateful, I’m going to pause… and thank God for the “simple” things in life…  you know… like running water, gravity, and light and darkness.