I’M WRITING this column with a cat on my lap. It’s not easy — as her paws keep pushing the key pad, but I sense she needs comfort. In fact, I’ve noticed a number of needy felines on my street lately.

There’s the dusty black cat with the red collar who must have missed his mother’s lesson on self-cleaning. He’s always around and he makes me sneeze, but I feed him anyway. I suspect he’s working the neighborhood buffet because of his girth.

Further down the block is a calico kitty who is obviously distressed. She’s found temporary shelter in the driveway of a neighbor with big-time cat allergies. Folks have posted her picture (the cat’s, not the woman’s) on Craigslist, but no one has called and her pitiful meow can be heard back at my house. Or is that the black cat I hear crying — or the woeful wail of my own Puss ‘n Boots, who has issues with sharing her food?

Something is going on. These animals are anxious for a reason. I’m not one to overreact, but I’m checking my earthquake kit – just in case.

ROAD RAGE: Driving is stressful enough these days without some manic motorist following you. A hills reader says she was taking her kids home from school recently, when a man started tail-gating her car on Shepherd Canyon Road. Driving erratically and hugging her bumper, he followed her onto her street, where she wisely pulled up to the curb, not into her driveway. The stranger parked behind her and sat, in his car, with the music blaring.

What did this mother of two do next? She sounded the alarm on her car keys and flagged down a neighbor who called police. The man took off and hasn’t been spotted again.

E-MAIL CAR: Speaking of driving, reader Bill Murphy says he witnessed a frightening scene, the other day, when a teenage driver lost control of her car on a rain-slick on-ramp to Highway 13, where crews were clearing debris from the right lane.

“(The car) skidded off the on-ramp, careened through the bushes, flipped over and landed upside down in the right lane of Highway 13 northbound,” he writes, adding that he and another motorist pulled the shaken but unhurt 17-year-old out of the car. “I mention this tale of caution,” he says, “to remind anyone taking that tight turn on the Highway 13 northbound on-ramp at Park Boulevard to be careful, particularly in the rain!”

LUSCIOUS LOCKS: And lastly, I’m not one to brag, but people have been talking about my healthy, shiny head of hair. Sun-kissed and sassy, I treated my locks to a “facial” the other day at the new Touch Salon on Antioch Court in Montclair. Teresa and Kostas Bozikis have turned the old Hair Tailor into a sensual spa, with powder blue chairs and pleasing paintings from local artists. In the tradition of Europe — they have a second home in Greece — the couple lives in an apartment above the salon with their 4-year-old daughter.

“It’s a very European lifestyle,” says Teresa. “Very green.” And the lack of commute must be calming, because Teresa treats your hair like an artist’s palate, which is why L’Oreal chose her salon to represent its Kerastase line of French products. They add moisture and shine to your hair – not to mention the soothing scalp massage that you get with the treatment. Add a masseuse and an esthetician and you’ve got Montclair’s newest spa and salon. Now ask yourself; don’t you deserve it?