The Pleasure of Mr. Cat’s Company
A guest who moved in for good
Yes, I write stories about my cat. But who wouldn’t write about Mr. Cat? He has a title and cool outfits, and the story of his moving in with me is what Trista Signe Ainsworth called a delightful surprise in her recent prompt.
Mr. Cat’s official name (at official places like the veterinarian’s office) is Midnight. He had a sister named Shadow who passed away a few years ago due to cancer.
Not long after I met my ex-wife in 2009, she adopted Midnight and Shadow as kittens. Shadow always avoided most people and was particularly afraid of children, but Mr. Cat quickly became well-known around the neighborhood as a friendly and easy-going guy.
When our (former) foster daughter came to live with us in 2014, Mr. Cat took on the role of Therapy Cat. When our foster daughter went to bed the first night in our home, Mr. Cat stretched out beside her (he was almost as long as she was tall), and she petted him while she listened to bedtime stories.
He always kept an eye on her, patiently cooperating when she tried to pick him up or when she put a tiara on his head. More recently, he sat in her lap while she attended classes via Zoom as we all worked together to help her mom out with childcare during the pandemic.
After my divorce, I still saw Mr. Cat from time to time, and then he stayed at my house during the summer of 2020 when my ex-wife took a road trip with her mom. He went back to her house when she returned, but when he came to stay again this past summer, this time he moved in for good.
His moving in happened by a mutual agreement that followed the lead of Mr. Cat, who seemed to get more comfortable here by the day.
He found a new role for himself as a kind of Executive Director who supervises from the rug by the computer desk when I work in the little office/bedroom, or who sits with me on the couch when I write in the living room.
He also likes the cozy bed I put at the end of the hallway: it’s the ideal vantage point as he can keep track of what I’m doing while also maintaining a little privacy so that he’s not awakened during his naps.
It ended up to be a pleasant surprise when Mr. Cat moved in, especially during the isolation of the pandemic. At bedtime, he comes onto the bed and purrs a bit before getting into his own bed to sleep. And much as I wish he’d sleep in until eight in the morning instead of waking me for food at six, I like that when he hears me wake up (assuming that I go back to sleep after his breakfast), he comes over for a few good morning pets.
He’s 13 now and getting to be a senior cat who has slowed down in many ways, but I keep an extremely leisurely pace around here (as you can, I’m sure, imagine), and we’re good company for each other.
My dad has become his official cat sitter, and they have a routine involving cat treats and pets. When my dad stops by to visit me, he’ll say, “Where’s Mr. Cat?” and Mr. Cat will come wandering over to him in slow-motion. My mom, who doesn’t particularly like cats, will always say hello to Mr. Cat, which he takes as an invitation to sit next to her on the couch, sometimes daring to rest his chin on her leg.
Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like he never responded to “Midnight” in the same way as he does to “Mr. Cat.” He seems to appreciate the respect.
He has also taken to sitting near my girlfriend and staring at her until she says, “What, Mr. Cat?” and then she plays with him with the cat toy she bought. She also found him some cat food made with hearty portions of fish, which he enjoys so much that I have to dole it out sparingly lest he eats it too fast and gets an upset stomach.
Well, he makes a lot of friends, even my girlfriend’s Westie, who will give him a little lick on the head if the opportunity arises when they’re standing together quietly.
When he wakes me too early in the morning, I try very hard to remind myself what a good friend he was to my foster daughter when she was so little and how much he helped her adjust to living with new people in a new place.
