Baba and Billy, 1920, John Duncan, 1866-1945

My werewolf dog didn’t want me to write about this topic today. He felt it was a betrayal.

“Because, really, Kim. You are a dog lover. You have no right to be writing about cats, ” he said.

Well, he is partially correct. I am a dog lover. I love their mischievousness, goofiness, playfulness, devotion; and the wonderful greetings of joy at the door, even if I’ve only been gone for ten minutes.

However, I’ve kept a secret from my werewolf. He doesn’t know that I once fell in love with a grouchy cat.

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In my early twenties, I bought a townhouse with my then-boyfriend. Our neighbors were a friendly senior couple who had an ancient deaf little dog, and a huge grouchy old orange cat, named Bigfoot. (He had six toes on each foot.) Very quickly Bigfoot (who I started calling Bigger) decided he wanted to see me daily. He’d hang around me while I read on our deck. He figured out how to open the living room screen door by folding his ears back and scratching at the screen until he could tug it open. Bigger was a noisy and opinionated cat. He squawked, chattered, meowed, and purred. His personality was as big as his feet and swinging belly.

He’d wander into our kitchen, open the cupboard doors, and walk into them. Pots and pans clanked and then his sweet orange and white face would pop out by the cupboard that held the toaster. He left a trail of hair behind him that I was constantly vacuuming. I wheezed, sneezed, scratched, and itched, but I used every allergy medicine I could think of. I loved this cat.

When I read on the couch, Bigger stretched out on my legs and rubbed his face on the book. Sometimes he’d peer over the pages and bump my forehead with his. My boyfriend would look over and say, “That cat loves you so much.” (The cat loved me far more than the boyfriend did, that’s for sure.) Often, I’d find Bigger inside my closet, snuggled in the clothes basket.

He ate the same tuna I bought for my sandwiches. My neighbors would laugh and ask, “Kim, are you feeding him? Because he doesn’t want to eat his dry food?” Bigger would saunter close and send an ESP signal to me, “Lie! Lie! Lie!” And so I did. We were partners in tuna crime.

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My boyfriend and I split, but Bigger remained. He was already old when I’d first met his huge, belly swinging, squawky self. Now, several years later, he moved much slower up the stairs; and spent more time in the closet. But he still came over every day.

Bigger would saunter close and send an ESP signal to me, “Lie! Lie! Lie!” 

And then one day he didn’t come over. I thought my neighbors were on vacation. I’d just gotten out of my car from a grocery trip. My neighbor opened her front door and walked over to me. Her face was drawn and her large brown eyes were filled with tears. She said, “Oh Kim, I am so sad! We had to put Bigfoot down, he wasn’t moving. I know how much you love him. I’ve been waiting to see you!” I started crying and we hugged and cried together. Because Bigger was extraordinary and he deserved every tear.

I didn’t leave the house for the next few days after the news. I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t read.

But hunger has a way of forcing you into action. I finally needed to eat something and I went into the kitchen cupboard. My stash of tuna cans almost did me in.

I laughed, wiped my tears, and said, “Okay sweetie, I’m eating it for you,” and I made myself the thickest tuna salad sandwich I’ve ever had in my life. And I ate the whole thing, just as my furry boyfriend would have wanted me to.

And he was the only cat I’ve ever lived with. Because once you’ve been loved by a huge orange cat with six toes? Well, you never really recover from a love like that.

Please don’t tell my werewolf.

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Now It’s Your Turn!

Write about a cat you’ve known.

Maybe they were a love muffin, or maybe they were a cat who’d swipe their claws at your feet at every chance.

Write about them and why they left such an impression on you. Because every cat has a personality that eventually takes over the room!

*Did you love this? Then check out Scribbly – my quirky and gentle writing program that we snail-mail right to your home. Each issue has a theme, so all you have to do is follow the path! We make writing easy and fun for you. We’re nice like that.