It would be an overstatement to say I practice Iyengar Yoga. I tend to fall off the yoga wagon until my shoulders demand I start practicing again. Recently the cat has decided she needs to join me, but only in the floor positions when she likes to sit on my hair, and pull?!

This cat has a past. Originally belonging to my mother and named ‘Sweetie Pie’ she is now at the ripe old age of 15 and has outlived two owners. I convinced my mother to get another cat after her beloved cat died – 15 years ago. As one of four children I was sure my older brothers or sister would take her if my mother passed on. My mother agreed, saying “I don’t want you to have Sweetie Pie because you have the two greyhounds and she looks an awful lot like a rabbit” Very true. Fine with me. I didn’t really want a cat. When my mother passed my older brother took the cat. Cheerfully.

My older brother suddenly passed on four years later – my two other siblings refused to take her so after a protracted bout with Senior Cat Rescue, I did- greyhounds and all. She arrived at my house much worse for wear, weighing six pounds and half bald she promptly stuck her too long claw through a tendon in my hand and both of us ended up at the doctor. I did not get a rabies shot, but the cat did. No good deed goes unpunished.

My husband thought having a cat named Sweetie Pie would cause others to question his masculinity, so he calls her Miss Kitty. Miss Kitty and the greyhounds have achieved detente over time and while I can’t say they like each other they tolerate each other.

Last summer I took the cat in for annual shots/vet visit. The vet looked in her mouth and said she had cancer of the soft palate and had 3 to 6 months to live. This was a bit of a shock as she looked just fine and was eating well. He showed me the tumor and told me to feed her water thinned canned cat food. The watered down cat food clearly pissed the cat off and she started eating dry food I had inadvertently left on the floor. After a few days of this, I bought some soft centered dry food and straight canned food. She ate that happily and gained more weight, now weighing about 10 pounds.

One morning a few months into the cats purported last months on earth I found a Scorpion in the house that something had bitten the head off. I am pretty sure my husband wasn’t the culprit – then the cat starting joining me for yoga. Her death sentence has passed and her mouth is clear and she eats everything I put down for her.

I am wondering if the Yoga or the Scorpion cured Miss Kitty?