Guest Blogger- Holly The Cat. A Cat Ponders On Depression

Hello. For those who don't know me, I am a tan tabby cat, ten years old. I've lived with Susan since January, 2003. The woman who rescued me named me Holly since I was rescued a day or so before Christmas, heavy with kittens. A Christmas miracle. But Susan says it's really Holly because her favorite TV show in the entire universe is "Red Dwarf" and she couldn't name me "Cat" now, could she? And "Dave", was out of the question, since I am a girl cat. And if she named me "Rimmer", the ASPCA would come and arrest her for animal cruelty.

My human's been really down in the dumps the last few days.

Susan's  also been feline poorly the last few days. She struggles to get out of bed just feeling tired and has a fever.  She's seen her GP who said she has a cold- and did some blood work. Her white blood count was elevated and she has to see her Oncologist next week. She isn't happy. Meanwhile her head aches more, and she has terrible night sweats so she has been running the air conditioner, and it makes me cold. I go under the covers, and she just sees my tail. Brrr. She says I look like a metronome, only fuzzier. 

It makes me wonder, what is depression, and why my poor human has it so badly.  Susan refers to it as a "Black Dog" an idea she got from someone named Churchill. I don't know about Churchill, other than he lived a long time ago in a place called across the pond. Does that mean he lived near ducks? And it's called "Black Dog". You wouldn't call it "Black Cat". Poor Mr. Churchill. I wonder if dogs get depressed. Cats don't really get depressed. Not like my human, if she can be an indicator.

I mean, cats do get depressed. This past winter I was sad because it snowed so much and all the birdies and squirrels went away and I had nothing to look at from my window sill. There wasn't enough sunshine to stretch out and languish on my tummy fur. But I didn't cry. I slept and  and played with my toys, dive bombed my human's mail, knocked over some books and cd's, and meowed at the TV. I may not be a kitten anymore, but I still know how to play and get into mischief. Susan on the other hand spent days in bed not sleeping, not doing anything, just listening to the radio and not happy. I am always happy if I am not sleeping, or eating or using my litter box.

I think the difference between cats and humans is simply this. Cats live in the moment. We don't think about yesterday or tomorrow. It's all about the moment we are in. Right now, I am on the computer. In a moment I will be in a fluffy comforter, in a nice warm bed, in a patch of sunshine with my stuffed panda bear.

That is nice. I guess we are all Id.  Maybe if humans were all Id, too they wouldn't be so sad. Humans should be more like cats. Or the Cat from Red Dwarf, just live in the moment, and think about eating little fishies. And looking cool.   Something like that.

I won't comment back but paw hugs, head bonks, scritches and tuna is appreciated.  I got some serious nappage to do now, I've missed two naps, and it's almost bed time.  Meow.

My most favorite show in the universe is back on the air1

I want to thank Bitter Animator, who blogs from across the pond. Apparently the BBC finally is airing a new series of Red Dwarf. It's big news because the show has been off the air for ten years!

i am doing the happy dance here. It's my all time favorite show ever, and new episodes give me something to want to watch more than anything.


If anyone is wondering why I love this show so much-here are the reasons, in no particular order.

1. I think the sexiest accent in the world a man can have is a Scouse accent. I guess this is from childhood when I thought the Beatles were the greatest rock group ever.

2. There is a character named Holly.

3. There is a character named Cat. Cat has evolved over the centuries from a black cat named Frankenstein that David Lister smuggled from shore leave on Titan. I love the idea of a cat in human form.

4. There is a robot named Kryten which usually puts me in stitches.

5. The writing, up to series 6, is brilliant, top notch, and brilliant satire. I have always felt the Brits do satire better than us Yanks- in literature, Swift, Gay and Pope made it popular, and in TV land, look at Fawlty Towers, Monty Python, French and Saunders, Chef- even Hyacinth Bucket. The best example of American satire right now on TV is :"The Office", and that came out across the pond before it came out here.

And finally- if you get rid of all the reasons above- it this simply. Dave Lister, the main character, and the one with the Scouse accent, falls in love with a woman which, according to the books in the series, dates for 6 weeks. He falls for her. Hard. When she breaks up with him, and Rimmer causes an accident on the ship which kills the entire crew, except for Dave because he is in suspended animation- all he wants to do is get back to Earth to find the girl. He is in love with her the entire series. It never wavers. He lives 3 million years in the future from his lady love, but he still loves her.

I am an incurable romantic. This story line moves me, that yes, love does exist, and it doesn't die, even if one of the partners does.