Sunday, October 24, 2010

Strange Behavior

Dear Sammy,

I just moved in with a new family this Spring. Don’t get me wrong. After the shelter, I am very happy to have a permanent home, and my people are really great. Lately, though, I’m worried about them. Usually, they’re pretty predictable. They get up in the morning, feed me, go off and leave me to my after breakfast nap, come home, feed me, and then we play and watch TV until it’s time for bed. In the last couple weeks, however, I think they’ve caught some sort of virus. They started rearranging the entire house, and putting up strange symbols and artifacts, The house is now filled with pumpkins, fake people that howl, black cats that aren’t real (as if they need any more than just me). Weirdest of all, usually they spend time knocking down cobwebs. Now, they’re actually putting them all over the house!

Sometimes, they’ll have two or three people visit, but last night, there must have been fifty people in the house, all in very strange outfits.. I was shut up in the bedroom all night “for my own protection” but I could hear them laughing and doing who knows what else for hours. They didn’t come to bed until morning, and now, it’s way past my breakfast time and they’re still in bed! What can be happening to my people? Have they been possessed by evil spirits? What can I do to help them? I really like it here, and don’t want to have to find a new home.

Worried in Watsonville

Dear Worried,

You can stop worrying. Just like we cats are affected by the phases of the moon, people are affected by the changing of the seasons. The Winter season seems to influence the biggest changes in their behavior. For some, the reaction is not as strong, and they don’t start showing symptoms until around December, others start to show signs in mid-November. Your people appear to be highly susceptible to holidayitis. The symptoms are excessive decorating, spontaneous singing, and obsessive socializing. Some of the more severe cases include dressing in strange costumes, and taking on alternative personalities.

While there is no known cure, the good news is the disease is relatively harmless, and once the year ends, all symptoms quickly disappear. I’ve found it’s not all bad, my people like yours are particularly sensitive to the this disease. They start the insanity even before October, and have been known to keep a tree inside the house until well into January. However, I do get extra treats during this time. Granted, they’re usually in strange shapes; pumpkins, stars, trees, etc, but they are treats. The best thing you can do for you people is to be patient with them, and be supportive of them while they work through it, and get used to it. It all starts again next Winter.

Sammy