Dear people of the world,

I, Alaina Jewel Cush, am not a cat lady! I just love my cat a lot. You see, he has been the love of my life since I got him in December of 2009. I got him as a little baby kitten, about the size of a large man's hand. When we were looking for a new kitten, we came across my little Kidde. I loved him, because he was adorable and energetic. My mom loved him, because he matched our furniture. Even my dad, who doesn't like cats, liked the little guy.

As he grew older, I loved him more and more everyday...even during his reckless teen stage. After being a year old, he decided he wanted to be a tough cat, and let everyone know who is boss. He would scratch and bite us for no reason! We would just be sitting watching TV, and BAM! The cat just scratched us since we moved our arm slightly near him. Everyone hated him in the house, except me of course. He was my baby. Maybe he was a little rough due to my brother and I. My brother was one and a half when we got him, so he would just pick him up and throw him around. Then there was me, who would dress him up in clothes that came from my Build-A-Bears, and made him dance to Michael Jackson. I bet it was more of my brother who caused it. Okay, so I know dressing up my cat sounds a little cat ladyish, but it's not like I took pictures of him as if he were a model, I just did it to see if I could. So, not a cat lady. Just love my cat a lot.

Now, what I'm about to tell you, is going to be a classic middle schooler move...I made my cat a Facebook. No! I am not a cat lady for doing that, I just loved my cat so much that I thought he deserved his own Facebook. I took a picture of him and edited it to make him look like a pimp, with the help of a website designed to make people look pimpin'. He looks great as a pimp. He has seventeen friends on Facebook! Pretty successful for a cat. Maybe that might be what a cat lady would do, but again, I just love my cat a lot!

Now, about my cat's name. Let me tell you this first: I am not a basic cat owner who name's their cat Kitty. No no no, his original name was Samuel, Sammy for short. Now, every time I tried calling him Sammy, he wouldn't respond. I mean, I called him Sammy plenty of times, to show him that Sammy is his name. I'm guessing he didn't like his name, since he never responded. One day, when I was trying to get his attention by calling his name, Sammy, he didn't respond. Then I said kitty, and he looked straight at me. He looked at me as if he was saying "Yes, that's my name. Now, shut up," so I named him Kidde. The reason why it's spelt like that, is because I feel the spelling of kitty is girly, so I made kitty to be spelt Kidde. The D's stand for dude. With that, his name will forever be Samuel Kidde Cush. So, I am not a basic cat owner who names their cat Kitty. He just didn't like being called Sammy.

What I love about my cat now, is that he is very fat and cuddly. We adopted him in Pittsburgh, but after we moved to New Bern, he started gaining weight like crazy! He weighs sixteen pounds now! He likes to eat, give him a break! His bowl is always full so he can eat throughout the day, and every so often I give him a full can of cat food. A lot of cats can only eat half of a can. Not my cat. He will eat a full can and have some dry food for desert! He is all the more cuddly because he is so fat! It's not so great though when he lies down on my chest and it gets a little difficult for me to breath. It doesn't matter though, because he is so fluffy! I feel like a cat lady would make sure their cat is up to health code, not me. I like him fat, fluffy, and cuddly. He seems to like it too! He used to be mean and grumpy when he was thin, now he's fat, nice, and happy!

One thing that makes me a step closer to being a cat lady is that I am single. I talk about my cat a lot, I post pictures of him on all of my social media accounts, he is my cover photo on Facebook, and he is the background on my phone, iPad, and computer. See, the thing is, is that usually cat ladies have more than one cat. Got you there, right! I only have one cat who I love so very dearly. You may call it an obsession, but it's not. I just love my cat so so much. Kidde is handsome too! Everyone should see how handsome he is. My cat has so much personality as well! Everyone should know that. And just because I've cried some nights due to the fact that he isn't sleeping next to me anymore, doesn't make me a cat lady. He's just my baby, who I love dearly.

Sincerely,

Not-a-cat-lady Alaina