I live with a mountain lion

Let me start off by saying yes, I'm blogging about a cat [a cat that's not even mine (he belongs to Brit)] and I'm not ashamed one bit. Riley is not your average house cat. He weighs about 15 pounds and is the meanest cat I've ever met - I say that with all the love in the world. I'm not lying when I say most of me and Brittany's friends are afraid of him. Riley was even part of the reason 2 of our friends opted not to live in the same apartment as us. When someone new comes to the apartment, they go to pet him and they say "aw hi, kitty. Is he a nice cat?" We say with all the sincerity in the world, "No, he'll probably bite you." Riley bites me at least twice a day when I try to pick him up or pet him; or often for no reason at all when I'm merely walking down the hall, he'll attack my leg.



Riley is also the most vocal cat I've ever met. Riley talks all the time. Mostly, he screams at me in the morning when he wants to be fed. Even when I'm feeding him, I have to watch my back because he will literally knock me over to get to his food dish - which we put on the window sill. Which leads me to my next story. For as big a cat as Riley is, he sure can move. Brittany and I like to point the laser pointer at the light switch. Riley will stare at it for a few seconds and suddenly jump with the greatest of ease to catch the little red light, turning on or off the light in the process. Brittany and I crack up every time.



We like to call him: Bubba, Pants, Batman, Fatman, Wetpaw - he dips his paw into his water before drinking it, and Fatty

Riley does have some cat-like qualities though. He uses a scratch post, and we find cardboard shavings all over our apartment. He loves to have his back and behind his ears scratched. Occasionally he'll purr. After that, he's over-stimulated, and he'll probably bite you. He loves to scratch his cheek on the corners of walls or the lampshade behind the couch. My favorite thing is when he does the kitty roll. "You know the thing, where they show you the belly. And you gotta reward that." :-)