Feline funk descended on Chateau Thompson today. David and Gretchen St. Lawrence, our house guests for the past three weeks, moved into their new home in Floyd County and took Buffy and Sherman, their two cats, cats with them, leaving our four cats in depressive repose at various locations around the house.

Hardest hit is Jekyl who spent many a day gazing longingly at Buffy only to be ignored by the princess in his dreams. With her departure, Jekyl now lies at the top of the stairs, looking longingly into the empty bedroom where the object of his obsession resided for the past 21 days.

AC is similarly despressed, having wandered through the guest bedroom, crying and moaning and sniffing all the places both Buffy and Sherman marked with their scents. He now lies face down on the bed in the master bedroom, hissing and growing at any who dare approach his space. Even brain damaged Loki looks more lost than usual, wandering the house and looking for two missing souls.

Only Trouble, the recluse who lives in his own little world, seems more or less unfazed by the suddenly less-occupied house, altough the presence of two other cats did bring him out of hiding more often than normal. Whether or not he returns to his usual hiding places remains to be seen but it may be a while before the others return to less than catatonic states.