Time once again to talk about Melvin, The Official SEB Cat. By the end of the week he will have been a part of our family for a month total and he’s settled in pretty well so far. He’s not as friendly as I’d hoped in terms of not being a lap cat by any stretch of the imagination nor is he particularly fond of being picked up and held for any amount of time, but he definitely has the right attitude to be our official mascot. In short, he’s partially a lovable feline companion and partially an annoying little shit.

He seems to think that his ability to accomplish normal everyday activities, such as feeding himself, are worthy of your undivided attention. If there is no one in the general area of his food dish he will seek one of us out and pester us to follow him until we’re in the same room so we can watch him eat. It is a regular occurrence to have him come into our room and put on a show that makes Lassie look like a blithering idiot as he clearly indicates his desire for us to follow him which if we ignore will lead him to putting a paw on our arm and meowing as though Timmy were about to go under for the last time and we’d better hurry. Initially we thought this meant his food dish was empty, but his food dish is almost never empty because it appears he’ll only eat if he has an audience at hand.

He’s also very playful for a six year old cat and will often wait around corners and under tables to leap out and bap your leg or hand as you walk by as though you were a particularly large mouse he had just pounced on. He never uses his claws when he does this, but it can be somewhat startling just the same. He can get a little rough while playing in other capacities, though, and I’ve got a few minor scratches to show for it. Still, he’s learned what it means when I say “cut it out or I’ll spritz you” as he’s been on the receiving end of the water bottle we keep on hand for just such a purpose.

He tries to maintain a haughty air of indifference at all times, even when he’s trying to get your attention for some reason. He seems to really enjoy staying just out of reach when you offer to pet him while giving you a look that suggests he would rather die than allow you to scratch him behind the ears. He still loves sleeping amongst all the clutter in my bedroom closet. All in all, he fits in with the rest of us pretty well and has earned his place as the official SEB cat.