Meet Dudley - A Cool Cat

"Good morning, Dudley," Frank says. He bends over and taps the 14-year-old scraggly furred cat on the head.

Dudley looks up at Frank and presents his happy face. It is one of many looks he can conjure up depending on his mood and the going circumstance. He patters over to his feeding bowl and sits in front of the display for a while. He changes his mind about eating his crunchy food but licks liberally at his filtered water. Later in the day, he'll scoop one pellet at a time from his bowl onto the mat under it and chews each morsel from there.

His favourite treats are 'Temptations' for cats. Any flavour will do.

I perch where I like, thank you

He rests wherever he likes including the top of the toilet bowl.

"Be sure to leave the toilet seat down," this homeowner said, "because Dudley likes to sit on the toilet seat." At the time, we shrugged our shoulders and both imagined we'd have to see it to believe it. And eventually, we did. We are genuinely entertained by this quirk of his.

He responds instinctively to his name. He comes to Frank when he's called with his tail standing straight up. We've learned over the years as pet sitters, that when a cat holds its tail high in the air as it moves through its territory, its expressing confidence and contentment.

Dudley is a man's cat and follows Frank in and out of rooms like a puppy. If the activity is just a bit too much, like when Frank goes outside to shovel snow, Dudley lays patiently on the carpet at the door. When Frank goes out to the balconies and clears the snow, Dudley sometimes joins him and licks the ice.

Frank tending to the snow

Frank and Dudley ~ tea time

In the evening, Frank and I watch one program or another on the television. Dudley waits patiently for Frank to get settled on the luxurious leather couch and then skulks stealth-like first onto the arm of the seat, then creeps behind his head to what we've interpreted as his hidden position and then he slides carefully down the back of the couch, stops and with one paw at a time, makes his way onto Frank's lap. Once settled his wears his complacent face.

Dudley with Frank ~ evening time

During our human sleeping hours, Dudley has found many satisfying centres to curl up in. He's mastered the technique of making himself comfortable at Frank's neck on the large bed, splaying out on the blankets set on the two loveseats in the basement, or curling up contentedly in his personal cat bed in front of the fireplace.

Dudley's days are filled with things he likes to do. He's a cat. He's a cool cat.