I ... have a problem. I get along too well with cats. I get along with cats better than I get along with people. And I am a sucker for their saccharine sycophantic antics. They control me like they have some kind of mind powers or something. They get me to clean up their poop, and feed them, and give them shelter, just by purring or playing with pieces of plastic. And they love me. They worship me. They follow me around the block. All I need to do is call "kitty kitty kitty" and they come to me and cuddle with me. That's more love than I get from any human companion at this point in my life.

They are like my family, only they don't hurt me, yell at me, or embarrass me. And so it pains me to leave any of them behind. And yet I must, for the time being, leave most of them behind.

I am not a very complicated person. I don't require much to make me happy. If I could live in a cave somewhere, with running water and fresh food, but keep all my cats, I would do it. I would probably breed a million of the hairball-hacking, urine-spraying, primitive little beasts if I was allowed. And I would smell like cat piss constantly, and I wouldn't have any dignity, but I would be happy.

But civilization just won't allow it. And so, as I move on in my life I leave behind an army of would-be feline followers. First there was Fancy, but she is no longer with us. Then there was Boo, who I wanted when he was a kitten but never really owned, and who now roams the streets of Alliance, but I would take him in if I could. And now it's Furball, Pooh, Azrael, and Sleepy, Azrael's son. I really regret leaving Azrael, but like I've pointed out numerous times he just isn't suited for the indoors, he needs to be neutered and maybe that wouldn't even stop him spraying everywhere.

(Granted, Sleepy isn't my cat and he has a home, but I love him and he loves me, and I miss him when I am away. He is next in line to be neutered, poor little cat, if he only knew what they were preparing to do to him .... I just hope he lives through the procedure. Seth said if Sleepy died "Aqua or Lavender would have to be my cat." WTF like the only reason Sleepy lives is for him to say "he is my cat." Well, Seth is only 7 and he would probably be sad and he just wasn't really imagining what it would be like. I would cry if something bad happened to Sleepy.)

But life goes on. There are millions of dying cats in Humane Societies and elsewhere around the world. And there are millions of suffering people in the world, like the people in Gaza being tortured and murdered by Israel in a 100 to 1 ratio to the number of Israelis suffering and dying in their land dispute. So, why does my heart go out to cats? I don't know, I just can't help it.