Missing the Boys

Both of the boys went back to school on Sunday. 

I miss them terribly, but I know that they are off on an adventure, continuing with their education, and working hard.  I miss their smiles and their humor, but I'm also glad that they are back at school, living their own lives.

But then, there are the cats.  They don't understand what is going on.  While the boys are home, each of them usually spends a significant amount of time playing with the cats, teasing the cats, cuddling with the cats, and sneaking them treats.

We have a yardstick with a piece of leather tied to the end of it.  We've tied beads into the leather strip, and the boys will run it back and forth across the floor, and the cats will chase after it.

Yesterday was the first day since before Christmas that the boys have not been home.  I wasn't working yesterday, so I got to see firsthand how much the cats missed them.

When I went to wake up daughter, Luna sat outside of the boys bedroom door and howled.  Tiger climbed up into their beds, and dug through the blankets.  He finally came down out of their beds and curled up into a pile of dirty laundry that they had left on their floor.

Middle child has a favorite spot in the living room where he likes to curl up and read.  Luna sniffed and sniffed in that spot, and meowed a lot.  She curled up in the spot, and every once in a while, she would look over at me, look around the room, cry, and then curl back up again.

Tiger walked through the room and found their yardstick.  He played with the beads for a few minutes and then looked expectantly around.  I tried to play with him, but after two swats, he went back to the laundry pile.  (He and the boys would play with the yard stick for an hour or more.)

When daughter got home from school yesterday afternoon, both cats piled into her lap and refused to let her go.  Luna cried pitifully for 20 minutes once she sat down in daughter's lap.

The boys called around 8 last night with their list of "I forgot..."  They were on speaker phone, calling from oldest child's room.  I put them on speaker phone so that we could all hear them.  Luna came over, looked at the phone with that cross-eyed look on her face, and began digging furiously at the screen, as if attempting to get the boys out of that tiny little box.

Both of the cats ended up curled up with us last night.  First time we've ever had both cats in the same place at the same time without a fight of some kind.

Today, the cats are a little better.  Tiger and Luna are both back to their usual spots in the front window.  Only thing is - they are both up there, together.  That's never happened before.

Do cats get depressed?  I am wondering because I would swear that both of those cats are depressed.  I just wish that they understood what I am saying to them.  They even turned their noses up at their favorite treats last night.