I got my first COVID-19 vaccination recently, but Cairo had other expectations for my arms that day.
I was really worried about side effects (I’ve got a pretty sensitive system) so imagine my surprise when all that happened after the jab was a heavy, sore arm and some fatigue.
About that fatigue. For someone who felt tired and like she was dragging a lead pipe for an arm around, I couldn’t stay asleep that night. I had the hardest time getting situated and staying situated, but who came in to my aid? None other than Mr. Cairo.
Smidge demands attention during the waking hours but she enjoys her comfy bean bag solo at night, so Cairo and I have special sleepy time cuddles. Some people rely on sleepy time tea, or bedtime rituals, but I just count on the cat. And Cairo was not allowing my lead-pipe-for-an-arm to interfere with his special snuggles.
You know, I don’t actually know if he was demanding snuggles or trying to heal my arm up faster. Purring has been shown to help heal cats faster when they are injured, a sort of self-soothing mechanism, and some studies think cat purrs can help people, too.
So, as I turned onto my back, he moved quickly, saddling up by my side after I stretched my arm out, then laid his precious head down on my arm and purred like a battery-operated lawn mower.
Awww.
I laid there and actually relaxed, even with my forearm sticking straight out from the bed, hovering perilously over the floor, as my lump of a cat purred away. His tiny, soft chin delicately rested on my bicep and he closed his glossy eyes.
You and I both know you don’t move a cat once they have selected you and put you into an optimum position. So I just stayed there until he moved, with one half of my arm dangling off the bed and the other supporting a vibrating cat chin. Despite this sounding uncomfortable, it wasn’t that bad, and once I figured out what to do with the arm that actually hurt, I got some sleep.
Yeah. We’re not going to tell him he was purring on the wrong arm.
