Overnight

 The saga of being a cat owner continues. 

Last night, the house was filled with the plaintive cries of felinus domesticas. He had a lot on his mind and was more than happy to share it with his caregivers. There was a period of time when this was mildly amusing for us as he reminded us of a favorite bit from a Warner Brothers cartoon. Now? Not as much. 

This cat's transition from feral and fearless to House Cat has been discussed here from time to time. This latest episode has more to do with his full recovery from having all his teeth removed than it does our willingness to accept him into our home. That was always on his terms. What we finally did was give up on the pain medication which once ruled his life and gave him the affect of a mildly confused stoner. His favorite place continues to be someone's lap, but his nocturnal habits have increased greatly since going into detox. 

Not that he's suffering any sort of withdrawl or, if you'll pardon the expression, cold turkey. Instead, he has become more of a presence in and around the house. Especially after dark. This would not be such a problem if it weren't for his insistence that my wife and I come along for that ride. Padding about the kitchen and living room, he seems to have a number of very important opinions to express. Perhaps he wants us to hop out of bed just to have the company. Maybe he has some ideas about what could be on the big screen if we were to give him access to the remote control. 

Not to worry, since he will eventually find his way into our bedroom and eventually on top of one of us. He will pad about looking for some recognition of his presence, often stopping to lick any portion of our exposed body parts with his sandpapery tongue. As mentioned here many times for various reasons, I am not a deep sleeper, and so I remain hostage to his settling down until it actually happens. 

I am very pleased to see that this old cat can learn a new trick or two, but since I am crawling out from under him early the next morning to go about my day's work in the sunshine, I can't help but feel a little cheated. Perhaps this is what drives a man to draw a comic strip devoted to the hijinks created by an adopted feline. At least ours doesn't seem interested in lasagna. 

Yet.