If you think the only animal that can be your best friend is a dog, then that is where you are wrong. My cat and I have a bond like no other and here is why...

1. I say that he is fluffy, not fat. Fluffy.

People come to my house, see my cat Ollie, and the first thing they do is widen their entire face and say, “Wow you have such a fat cat!” If you wake up in the morning with an Ollie bite on your face and wonder why, I am going to tell you that you shouldn’t have called him fat right when you first met him. He might’ve snuggled up next to you while you slept instead of watching you sleep planning the perfect moment to strike. How do you think he and I became best friends?

2. He talks, I listen.

He sure does say, “meow” a lot but that is just the way he talks. It is not always about what he says but how he says it. There is a certain tone he uses for every mood he is in; I always know what he is feeling and he is never afraid to show his emotions. When he is angry his meow is hoarse sounding; when he is happy it is high pitched and elongated. There’s how you know I’ve really been listening.

3. He is my baby.

You know how toddlers reach their hands up to your stomach because they want to be picked up? Well Ollie does that exact same thing! Every time I ignore him when he is talking to me, he stretches his front paws onto my thighs signifying that he needs to lift the weight off of his shoulders for a bit. After all, he is carrying quite a bit of weight.

4. He can play the piano, just like me.

I have played the piano for nine years so I consider myself qualified enough to teach beginners the basics. Ollie has taken quite an interest in learning. Every time I sit at the piano and start playing, he runs over to me and sits on the bench next to me. For a while he just watches me play and then he decides that it’s his turn. He hasn’t been properly taught but he thinks that if I can play by ear then he can play by eye. And he never passes up the opportunity to show me what he has learned by watching me play. Whenever I am not running my fingers up and down the keys, he is literally running up and down them.

5. He is always by my side.

Whether I am sleeping, reading a book, or doing my makeup in the bathroom, Ollie is always by my side. I often hear him scratching on the door to let him in when I am doing my makeup. The moment I do, he runs in, jumps onto the counter, and sits there in front of the mirror with me. Mirrors fascinate him, when he sees one he either meows at it or crawls up it with his front paws to get a closer look.