Day 4 – Caturday Mornings

Saturday mornings are for coffee, self-care, and my cat. My cat. I never thought in a million years I would say, write, or think those two words in the same sentence. But here I am spending Saturday mornings with my cat Zobo.

Zobo wasn’t always my cat and I didn’t always have warm feelings for him.  He was adopted as a kitten by my stepmother and dad many years ago.  He was initially thought to be a female cat and was named Zoey.  Even after confirmation that he was in fact a male, they continued to call him Zoey.  At best, I was indifferent when I encountered him at my parents’ house.  When my stepmother passed away I started engaging more with the pets my dad was now responsible for on his own.  Still, I was not the least bit enamored by Zoey’s curmudgeonly ways.  He wasn’t a visible presence at my Dad’s house, except when it was mealtime and then he became very vocal.  I never heard a meow like his before, loud, raspy, and unrelenting.  More like a MEROARW.  As it happened though, one day I was sitting with my dad watching some sport on t.v., the Cubs or golf, and Zoey walked by.   At the same time, I noticed a cat brush on the table so I picked it up and gave his head a little brush.  He began purring immediately.  When I say purring I really mean PUROARING.  It became our little routine. Every time I visited, Zoey got fed and brushed.  I began looking forward to those cranky meows and the intense purring.  My heart changed toward this old guy in a big way.

Since my dad moved into assisted living two years ago, Zoey has lived with my husband and me.  He has become, in every way, our cat and we love him.  We changed his name from Zoey, to Zo, then to Zobo.  When we have happy hour snacks, he gets a little treat too.  He sits between us on the couch while we watch t.v., read, or work.  There is no end to the adorable places we find him catnapping around our house. My husband works from home so I get regular photo updates.   He continues to be fed and brushed on demand and judging by the continued MEROARWing and PUROARing I think Zobo loves us too.