Bella fans: This long weekend is the first time Bella's had someone stay in the apartment while I'm away. People have stayed with me, and I've gone away and had people come feed her and leave; but this is a first. Now, it's someone she'd already met, and the only friend of mine she'd ever liked -- Rita stayed with me months ago and Bella came out to greet her, and even spent part of the night with her. But no one else has ever seen this cat with the exception of one of the feed-and-leave catsitters, who came in while she was at her dish and thus caught her by accident in my cul-de-sac of a kitchen. So I told Rita not to worry if Bella never appeared the whole time she was here.

Well.

It seems Bella is not, in fact, a one-person cat. She's a one-person-at-a-time cat. Reports are she's all over Rita, on her lap, on her bed, greeting her every time she walks in the door. I guess Bella draws a real distinction between visiting (bad) and residing (good). If you're visiting, who knows what you might be up to, even if what you seem to be up to is feeding her? But with me gone, and someone else in residence, a cat's got to look out for herself, right?

Go Bella!