Have you hugged a Walter today?

I was woke up at 5:52am this morning (an exact TEN minutes before my alarm was due to go off) by a wonderful feeling of what felt like warm, wet sandpaper scraping across my left cheek and 15 pounds of cat lying on my chest. Apparently my alarm clock has now become an obsolete piece of bedroom furniture due to my cat's own innate ability to predict my wake-up calls do to his hunger. No, it's not like he's starving, he just thinks he is.

Unfortunately, in the four months since I have adopted him, he has gained 3 pounds. Sure 3 pounds doesn't sound like alot to you and I, but 3 pounds to a cat who is supposed to be 11 pounds is close to a 30% increase in body weight. That is similar to a person who is supposed to be 130 pounds gaining 40 pounds in four months. So in reality, he must go on a diet. Technically he has been on a diet for 3 months, obviously it hasn't worked, but according to him, he is being held against his will and starved and has wasted away to nothing but a bag of bones.

Some days he will try the suffocation approach (laying on my chest ensuring that I must fight for air) and if that doesn't work, he will jump to the floor, or on my nightstand and will rummage through anything that is guaranteed to make a noise or just generally annoy me until I get out of bed.

Yes he has trained me, trained me very well I might add. It is very difficult not to give in most days since he is a perpetual talker. Some cats talk, but him...you can carry on an entire conversation. He has his "I want attention" sounds, his "I'm bored" sounds, his "Why did you bother me" sounds, his "get out of bed" sounds, his "hey, how's it going?" sounds and of course his 'IT TIME TO FEED ME" sounds.

Although he can be quite the annoying little (I guess little isn't the word for him) thing, I still love him. It's truly amazing at how fast you can fall in love with an animal, and how they quickly become your best friend. You must cherish your friendship and love that you have for them every day, because you never know when it will be the last.....and hopefully, Walter's day won't come for a very long time.

Have you hugged a Walter today?