You Haven't Been Loved ...

... until you've been loved by a cat.

Today ... our cat chose me. He situated himself on my reclined body and incapacitated me for the better part of the afternoon. He was 'at one' with my torso. You could barely tell where he ended and I began (aided by the excess cat hair that became part of my ensemble...).

I've been worried about our little black kitty lately. His food consumption started to decline in December. By the time Christmas rolled around, I was becoming concerned. His age is starting to show. He sleeps a lot. And he sleeps so deeply. Very uncatlike.

A few weeks ago, I picked up some canned cat food. I thought that I could entice him to eat his dry cat food if I mixed it in with soft food. It generated a little more interest ... but for the most part, he just ate a few bites and walked away.

So I forgot about trying to get him to eat the dry cat food at all and offered him canned food only. Ahh ... that was more like it. He still ate only small amounts. But he was eating more than he had been.

Eventually, I had to replenish the canned cat food supply. I picked up a few different sea food varieties (which seems to be his preference) and offered him some 'salmon pate'. I hit pay dirt! He licked the platter clean and asked for more.

He is eating a can of cat food per day. He still sleeps quite a bit and isn't quite his young, vital self. But he is coming out to eat far more than he has in a very long time.

He quite often makes his presence known before I go to bed (as a reminder to fill his bowl before I go to sleep, I'm sure). I have been waking up to find him sleeping on the back of the love seat in the living room. I am greeted with a little morning, "Meow" (which translated, I'm sure means, "Breakfast, please?").

Yes, our cat is lovin' me just a little more than usual because I am the keeper of the cat food. He knows who is filling that bowl.

So today, when he decided that he would like to nap on me (all afternoon), I was more than a little happy to oblige him.

There were a lot of other things that I could and should have been doing. But today? I was chosen by our cat. I was honored to be his mattress with a built in heater and a heartbeat which I'm sure lulled him into a deep, deep slumber.

It was a lost day. But our cat found me. It was a very good way to spend a day. We just never know how much time we have with those we love...