Adopt a Cat Month

In honor of Adopt a Cat Month, I would like to talk about my cat Spooky.

He came to live with me at the age of 8 ½ when my roommate brought him from his parent’s house. Roommate had a dog that slept in his room. My mother had a dog that slept in her room. The cat chose me and my room. The roommate left; the cat stayed. That was 8 years ago. I have had to sleep with my bedroom door open for 8 years.

We are a dog family. I do not speak cat. But I am convinced the cat speaks English. He has a Meow that sounds like he is calling out “Hello”. And the other night I was awakened at 4am by what I could swear was Spooky talking in his sleep about his grand plan for managing the Apocalypse.

On Sunday afternoon I gave him a bath. This is required because he has some kind of skin allergy that makes him itch and lick the fur off his skin until he bleeds. Afterward, he skulked away to pout, so I decided to get to my real chores and changed the sheets on my bed.

Then I put him on a leash to take him into the backyard to dry off in the sun. At his former home he was allowed outside as he pleased. We do not allow this, which I imagine is #1 on his list of reasons to bother destroying the Earth. He sat in the shade for 10 minutes before going back to the door.

(sigh)

I let him back in the house.

Within the hour, he was asleep. On my clean pillow. He was still wet.

So I cut his nails. I have to be careful, though. If he gets mad he will take it out on the dog. Actually, that is pretty funny, too.

If it hadn’t been for wayward roommate, I would never have had any idea that a pet that can’t be bribed, doesn’t follow direction, thinks he is smarter than I am and requires two litter boxes could possibly be so cool.