30 Till 30 | How to Train your Screaming Cat

Meet Gendry, my cat:

In this coming May, I will have had him for two whole years. Before I actually got him, his foster, Linda, described him as “opinionated.” I thought nothing of it, as I assumed that all cats are opinionated and judge (because they are). He seemed mild-mannered over the FaceTime call Linda and I shared — downright adorable, dare I say. Eventually the day came when I took him home, quiet in his carrier and all through the drive from Navy Yard to Eckington.

The first nights were challenging to say the least. They should really add in a psych evaluation for potential adopters, because I felt ill-prepared to start caring for another life. As my friend Jason loves to tell, I was at my wit’s end for several days and even considered refostering him.

“I don’t know if I can do this!” I cried, “It’s too much!”

(It really is a damn shame that I didn’t go to school for drama, because that Oscar would be sitting above my toilet right next to the Poo Pouri right now)

Eventually the dust settled and I’d soon learn that when Linda said “opinionated” she really meant “loud.” Gendry is a screamer — no, he doesn’t meow, he screams. He screams for attention, and screams for love, and screams when he’s sad, and screams when he’s in the kitchen after pushing his toys underneath the fridge (He’s just like me!). It took a few months, but over time, we found our groove. In a way, we act like an old married couple — he screams at me, I scream at him; he eats his dinner, but still wants some of mine; he wants to sleep in my bed, and I say “you have your own bed, go over there”.

In too many ways, we deserved each other. No one has tested my patience more or my ability to withstand five claw scratches a week, but through it all, I know that at the end of the day, he will always choose to scream in my face, curl up in my lap, and show me love. And I think it’s with him that I find my healthiest relationship. Every day he teaches me that we can do our own things separately, love and hate each other, and still end the day liking one another. (WOW, the amount of personification that I’m doing for my cat is astounding)

But think about it, if this is the life i’ve built with a cat, imagine how great of a partner I’ll be to the next man I date or the man I’ll eventually marry! He won’t just get someone who will scream and shout his love at him…he’ll also get Gendry.

Regardless, I thought I’d have more lessons to take from my time with Gendry, but let’s be real — it’s only been two years and we have a lot more living to do before we get really deep. Until then,

I will see you tomorrow.