Cat scratch fever.

I discovered a quirk about my cat, quite by accident. Yesterday I saw her kookily grabbing her tail and trying to bite it. It was weird but I figured it was some grooming ritual about which I was unfamiliar (that was my attempt not to end a sentence with a preposition). So I thought I'd help her out, and I scratched the base of her back where it meets/becomes her tail and she went nuts licking. She licked whatever was closest... her side, my hand, whatevs.

I tried again tonight, and it was so weird: I scratched, she licked. I stopped, she stopped. Like clockwork. First I thought it was funny, then creepy, so I had to turn to a professional: Google.

Google tells me that this scratching/licking scenario is a common cat reflex, much like how dogs shake a leg when you scratch them. It's super weird.

After I felt soothed that she didn't have scabies or anything, I picked up Ruby, scratched her back/butt/tail, and whispered into her furry little ear: "You're just so odd and sweet."

And then I watched Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Also odd. But not sweet.