My cat is like me in so many ways. If you’ve ever met her, you would agree. We sort of grew up together, so maybe it’s to be expected. She has a strong aversion to strangers, and tends to despise being touched. She lets me pet her a bit, but mostly snuggling is on her terms. Just now, she’d been out for a while and was happy to see me, but in a moment of awkwardness, she was kind of staring off and purring, and then turned and bit me, continued purring, then laid down and went to bed. Sometimes, when she just can’t think of what else to do, she bites the people she is happiest to see.

She’s also rather vindictive. If you have done something against her will, such as put her out of the room, she does not just walk away; she circles a bit, and then lunges at your ankles, gets a good bite in, and then backs off a bit until you go away. And you cannot come back at her, or she will just get angrier. You just have to ignore her, or else give her what she wants.

And she really loves for you to enjoy the outdoors with her! She meows loudly (which she always does—the most vocal and loud cat you’ve ever met, with a whole lot of different meows which have unique and separate meanings), but when you approach, she runs off. Still, she wants you to keep up—just out of reach.

She eats anything if it is rich or sweet. She will eat toast, cookies, all dairy products, and tuna, but only tuna in water. She has incredibly expensive tastes. And she tends to get very wet whenever it rains or the sprinklers were on, then comes in crying and crying until someone tries to dry her off, from which she runs quickly. But if you can catch her, it was really drying off that she wanted all along.

She absolutely would never be an indoor cat. She would have died years ago, I think. I rarely take her for shots and checkups because I cannot get her into a cat carrier, and if I do, she chews through the sides (at 14 years old). She loves to attack things and bite their heads off (lizards, birds, butterflies, etc.), but she doesn’t eat her kill. She loved to tease the dog until the dog would chase her. Then she would act unjustly attacked and hide until it was all over.

Anyways, this is Friskie, the cat. It took me at least a year before I could even pick her up, let alone pet her without her biting me. She doesn’t always likes me, but she forgives very quickly, and things are back to normal if not better than before. She’s been a great pal since I was eight, so I guess we’ve just adopted each other’s characteristics somewhat. It happens with every relationship.