Chochem the Ancient One

My roommate is in his mid-80s according to an online cat age calculator, 16 in human years. He is half Siamese but is almost totally black. He is also totally deaf. I love standing behind him screaming his name and getting no response from him, not even an ear twitch. He will get frisky about once a day just after eating and then taking a number 2 in the litter box. This playfulness lasts about 45 seconds when he runs around a bit, gets half way in back of the book case and out again, and proceeds to run around a bit more. Then its nap time, his favorite pursuit. His other two favorite pastimes are yowling and puking.

Marley is very affectionate. He will jump up on you, put his paws around your neck and knead and nuzzle you while purring louder than a lawnmower. A nicer cat has never been born. It’s hard to get mad at him when he yowls like a sick rhinoceros at 4:30 in the morning wanting his damned breakfast.

He was a raging asshole as a kitten. I would sometimes have to barricade my bedroom door against him at night to get some sleep. Then he would get up on shelves and countertops and knock shit off until I paid attention to him. Believe me, he was “busy.” Always interesting to come home and see what he had fucked up while I was away. He was an adorable, fuzzy little ball of non-stop fun and destruction.

Now a creaky old beast, he sometimes has a hard time just jumping up on chairs. He is becoming increasingly clingy and needy. But he still has a nice shiny coat of fur and eats like a horse, keeping it down about half of the time. I think the old boy has a few years left in him. Hope the same can be said about me.