An open letter to my cat....

Because this is what my life has come down to...

Dear Copernicus,

When I found out I was getting you, a kitten, I was thrilled. I was so ecstatic. It was a time in my life where I felt very alone and I thought that getting a kitten would change that.

It turns out that getting a kitten would serve only to keep me up at night and irritate me when I study.

You were a very sick kitty about three weeks after I got you. The vet said that you had something called Feline Leukemia and that you would die.

I cried and cried because I realized that no matter how much you irritate me when I study, you are still my little kitty.

Then you got better.

That made you vicious and hard to like. For what seemed like a very long time. So I cut off your nails and tried to put up with you.

That made you needy. So, you developed an Obsessive Compulsive disorder that usually only horses get called cribbing. Because I realized you are so much like me, I could empathize. I tried to teach you some coping mechanisms to deal with your anxiety, but you just looked at me and kept right on cribbing.

So I cried and cried because I have made you crazy.

Tonight you meowed at me in your precious kitten little way, and crawled into my lap, and without cribbing you purred and sat with me and cuddled and just acted the way a kitten should act.

I know that as our relationship continues to develop, there will be ebbs and flows, ups and downs... we will dislike each other and love each other, and support each other through tough times. I apologize in advance for, as soon as possible, I plan to have your nails ripped from their sockets in what is likely to be an excruciating surgery.

It is necessary for your survival in an upholstered world.

For tonight, I plan to just love you and cuddle you. Tomorrow I will probably curse at you and throw a textbook or two at you... you're lucky because you have reflexes like a cat and will scamper out of the way.

I love you right now, little Coperni-Kitty.

Love,

Toonses