To Max: Kitty Love

Since forever Bullet was Daddy's cat. He would play with me in ways that kind of hurt, because he liked me well enough but only understood how to play as a kitten and not how to be gentle. With Daddy he would curl up on his chest and snuggle. He would crawl up and mew into his ear begging to be pet and purr SO loud. If I tried to pet him he would grab my hand, and if particularly feisty he would bite me. He was just playing, but it still meant no snuggles for me.

Bullet has always liked to come up and trick people into thinking he's sweet so he can grab them with his claws. With your grandparents the situation was more intense. He's been known to hiss and growl at them, especially if they are in his way. There has been at least one occasion when Bullet has cornered your grandma, and to hear her tell it she feared for her life.

We had no idea what to expect when we brought you home. If the cat loves your dad, thinks I'm okay, likes some of our friends, but is pretty hostile to most people he's around for more than 5 minutes, what on earth would he think of a baby? Not a single person that I know could have predicted his behavior. Something about you and your presence has brought out an incredible sweetness in Bullet. I don't know if you'll believe me when I tell you about how Bullet used to be, and I hope you never get to see it for yourself because right now he loves you kiddo.

That's right, out of all of our cats, Bullet is the one that adores you. I can't explain it. He's even nicer to me since you came along. He'll actually sit in my lap, or let me pet him and hardly ever plays rough anymore. With you it's even more insane. This cat lays there as you put your mouth up to his head for kisses. He lets you grab fistfuls of his fur, and pull on his ears. We try to keep you from abusing him, but you have yet to master "being gentle". Sometimes when you get in a foul mood and are crying, Bullet will actually come over and stand in front of you, as if presenting himself as a distraction. When your sniffles stop and you happily squeal as you tackle him I think he's happy. Even before you could crawl, when you cried for too long he would come and whine at us, he's never liked to hear you cry.

When I think about your first year, I think about you and this cat. Maybe all this time what he needed was a little boy to love. I only hope that he always feels that way about you, because it's really sweet.