Sept. 5: cat food

9/5/09

I arrived today just in time to prevent Dad from eating his lunch – ¾ of a can of cat food, served in a saucer. Judging by the saucer, he started out planning to feed the cat and then lost track of what he was doing and figured it was something to eat himself. When I pointed out to him that it was cat food, he said, in a curious – but not alarmed – tone, “I wonder how much cat food I’ve eaten?” Marie has suspected that he’s been eating cat food for a month or so now, once in a while. We tried hiding the cat food cans, but then he feeds the cat whatever he finds in the refrigerator, stuff that she doesn’t eat.

I think the only solution is to buy organic cat food, the kind that’s made with only human-quality ingredients. That way, it’ll be less of an issue if Dad happens to eat some. Too bad we’re boycotting Whole Foods – I’ll have to go to the holistic pet store in the East Village.

Watching the cat rub against his legs, Dad says, “I think I’ll be very depressed if the cat dies before I do.”

Dad is in a talkative mood, but he’s droning on, repeating things I”ve heard a thousand times. I start getting that familiar, falling-asleep-in-class feeling, where you’re struggling to listen, but you just can’t keep your eyes open. When I wake up, Dad is still talking. He hasn’t noticed that I was asleep.

Dad wants to know why women shave their legs. I’m stumped, I’ve never really thought about it - I was presented with a pretty razor at age 12 or 13, and I’ve just automatically done it all these years. “It’s kind of a tradition, I guess,” I tell him.

“What is that music I hear?” Dad asks. I listen hard, but I don’t hear any music, just the fan, whirring away.

“Is there any juice with this?” Dad asks, finishing his dinner. I don’t think he means a beverage – he calls all things to drink “milk” or occasionally, “water”. “Something to drink?” I ask, just in case. “Or something to shovel,” he says. “Oh, dessert,” I say and get him some. Once we finished, Dad pronounced us – cat and all – “stuffed” in four different voices.