Ordeal of mate in the hospital

Samantha is home and I’m thrilled.

Beyond that, even.

Imagine the wait and worry of having your partner stuck in a hospital for 16 days, starting with a scary 2 a.m. admission for an abscess that no one seemed to understand.

For days and days, no medicine seemed to be doing any good, and I’d have to wander home — worried about when I might see Sammie again.

The doctors were wonderful, phoning regularly but explaining that there hadn’t been much progress. There were discussions of taking her to see a specialist.

A series of X-rays came back inconclusive.

My last visit to the hospital was depressing. Sammie’s eyes lacked much spark. She seemed weak and dispirited.

So when the phone call came that things had changed, that there had been a huge turn for the better, that soon Sammie could come home, well ...

I was excited, relieved, all those things you’d expect. I had honestly wondered if we’d ever cuddle and doze off together again.

By the way, have I mentioned that Sammie is a cat?

ALL YOU cat people surely will understand the ordeal I’ve just described.

We become so attached to our feline mates that sometimes friends wonder if we might have a cross-species thing going on.

My sister used to swear that I could not sit on a couch without scooching around, back and forth, searching for that perfect position — and that any moment I’d be stretching out my paws in satisfaction.

Truthfully, I really don’t mind the comparison.

Cats are, first and foremost ...

Cool.

There’s no argument on that one. No creature can pull off “cool” like a cat.

Oh, I know I’ve always had this thing for Snoopy, but who says cats and dogs can’t get along?

Once Sammie got home from this terrifying illness, she encouraged me to do some serious research to see if I might actually be a cat in human form.

I had some time on my hands, after all, living on Ramen noodles and toast while trying to pay off those $1,300 hospital bills.

THE FACT is that Sammie and I share a startling number of similarities.

OK, our coloring is a little different, since she’s coal black with green-gold eyes, but that’s a just a superficial thing.

Consider what we have in common: an absolute passion for naps is probably the topper, but the more I studied cats, the closer we seemed.

We’re both tidy and VERY particular about things. And of course, we’re each endlessly curious — which is likely how we got into journalism.

Then there’s the fact that we want affection on our own terms, rather than being bothered by people when we have that need to be alone.

Call it moody if you like, but we simply have the occasional passion to go rogue.

And no, we don’t really deal all that well with people who aren’t on our level. Silliness and lack of perception are annoying in humans, don’t you think?

There are other little things, too. We’ve been noticing them more since Sammie got home.

We’ve just now been playing and laughing about it.

In fact, it’s brought on this feeling that lying down for just a bit would be...

Hmmm?

Your voice is drifting...

Zzzzz...

- • •

Steve Cameron is a special assignment reporter for The Press. Sammie is a 7-year-old (more or less) former resident of the Kootenai Humane Society, where she once was abandoned in the parking lot. Reach them via email at scameron@cdapress.com.