Dear Vernooner: A Letter to Our Cat

Dear Vernooner,

It has been more than a month since I snuck off to find the most badass cat in the county and brought you home instead.  Sure, you ignored that mouse and could not have cared less about protecting me from that bug, and your instinct to kill that spider was overrun by your instinct to look up at me and demand more food... but you're a sweetheart and I love you.

Some people would be turned off by the way you drool when you purr, but I want you to know that even though Daddy and I have allocated "Nooners Napkins" to wipe your face like a baby, it is purely out of love.  The way you snuggle under my chin when I'm reading at night and the way you fit perfectly into the small of my back when I roll over to go to sleep... those moments are very special to Mommy.  And the way you climbed onto your Daddy's chest this morning for a little snuggle session and then sneezed in his mouth instead, that was also very very special to Mommy.

I am so glad that your big brother was able to get his shit in check and not eat you during that first week we brought you home.  Remember that epic face attack you two shared?  The one that left a giant scar across his nose that is just now healing but still hasn't regrown fur?  I think that moment specifically made all the difference.  So now when you rub against him or curl up on top of him to take a quick nap together, my insides get all warm and fuzzy.

I could continue to write more gushy stuff- about how all of your extra hair has re-awoken my passion for felting or how sweetly you leap into my arms for snuggles every time I bend down, even if I was just bending down to pick up something off the floor... but you are currently bellowing so loudly for breakfast that I am afraid you will wake the neighbors.  Thank you for picking me to be your mommy, and thank you for agreeing to give it a shot, even if we had two dogs who have never lived with a cat before, and super thank you for not throwing up that hairball on the bed this morning.  I am still sorry that my "remove the cat from the bed" maneuver was actually more of a "loft the cat across the room, curveball-style extraction" but I was concerned about the clean sheets I had just put on the bed not five minutes before.  Thank you for understanding.  Mommy loves you my lovely Grumpy Gills.