The Egyptians once worshipped cats, considering them companions that kept them safe from snakes, scorpions, and rats. The Egyptian people grew to accept them into their homes and treated them as family members.

Cats today have a similar social standing.

When my roommate Keith brought home a cat, I was surprised at how shy it was. It didn't leave his room for two weeks and ran away from me constantly. Being used to dogs, I was annoyed by this behavior. Why isn't it playful or cuddly? At least a dog would want to hang out with you. This cat just wanted to be by itself.

Keith told me the cat's name was Berkowski. All I could this was... Who names their cat that? Out of all the names to choose from, that's what Keith chose? This cat is a grey cat with tall ears and a missing right tooth, so his gum rides up a bit sometimes and makes him look goofy. "Berkowski" sounds like a name you'd give a royal, selective cat, not this skittish goofer. I could think of several better ones.

So I decided to change his name, despite it not being my own cat. "From now on your name is Boofer," I told him, giving him a treat. He looked at me like he understood. Boofer can be the weirdest cat at times. Occasionally, Boofer and I would make prolonged eye contact and it would make me uncomfortable. He just stares and stares and doesn't acknowledge anything. He's not gauging my movements and he's not thinking about his own movements. It's almost as though he has no soul. He's like most people. He watches, waits, and stares but in the end, none of it means anything to him.

Crazily enough, Boofer recently turned out to be quite the vocalist. He meows loud and long, and each one sounds different. When spurred by hunger, Boofer can sing songs, often going for several minutes. This is both impressive and annoying. I think it's a form of manipulation. He knows his atrocious singing will get to me. He knows I'll end up doing anything to make him stop. He probably thinks he has me all figured out.

Even though I feed him a lot of treats, Boofer is also extremely agile and can be in and out of the room without you noticing at all. This can be very creepy at night. It's like he's showing off to you, he wants you to know how in shape he is. If he gets spooked, he'll skedaddle real quick. It doesn't matter what time of the day it is or even what you're doing, Boofer will do what he wants, when he wants.

Boofer hates cuddling. If you force him onto your lap or into your arms, you can feel how badly he's trying to hold it together. He wants nothing more than to run away. You get the feeling he might puke on you. Every time I get tired of forcing him to love me and let him go, he runs away, fleeing the room before I can even say his name. Boofer is an enigma. If Boofer was a dog, he would love the attention. He would want me to play with him, cuddle him, and carry him.

It wasn't until right now that I realized I don't dislike Boofer. Even though he's no dog, has some of the most annoying tendencies, and doesn't care about me, I still like him.