Big cat snoozing...

For this weekend’s edition of Let Sleeping Dogs Lie & Napping Cats Nap we have decided to focus on a large slumbering cat.
His name is Griffin and he has lived with us for about a decade. Here he is in one of his favorite spots, the back of a living room chair.
He is very broad. We have been in negotiations with his agent to sell advertising on his backside.
Cats are great sleepers and some cats are great personalities and Griffin is the greatest of both.
When we found him roaming free he was a spindly kitten, probably five or six weeks old. Legs like pencils and a tail like a pipecleaner.  His head was about the size of a peach in a dry summer . Now, he is a melonhead.
When we got him he may have weighed 12 or 13 ounces. A gentle breeze was enough to change his direction.
Not long ago we took him to the vet. He was in his carrier and our vet staff pal Kim leaned over to grab the carrier handle and move him into the exam room. When she tried to pick him up, the dead weight nearly yanked her arm out of the socket.
As you can see, he’ll continue to occupy his sleeping spot no matter what sort of traffic passes through that chair.
In this photo you see Porche Noel, the little odd dog that came to us one Christmas season. Starving and gimpy, she pushed through the porch gate bars to enjoy the free feral cat buffet on the porch. She ate so much she couldn’t go back through the bars. And, as you see in this photo, she’s a healthy little girl now – kind of like a pleasant blend of jumping Jack Russell, lively French Bulldog and shark.
My computer desk is set up behind that chair and when Griffin abandons that spot, Porche likes to balance there and watch over my shoulder as I write.
That other dog is Texas Earl the Cheeseman – I wish I could explain the name, but it just came to us and it stuck.  We call him Earl. He’s adorable and gentle.
I found him in Kiest Park one day. Someone had left him there. Every time a car pulled into the soccer field parking lot, Earl would race up to the driver’s side. When he’d see it wasn’t his human, he’d slump a little, then slowly return to a spot under a nearby tree and lay down, putting his chin on his paws and, with the saddest dog face in the world, watch for the next car.
I talked him into coming home with me.  He has become a great friend and he has decided he likes being a lap dog. Yes. He is a lap dog.
So, what we have at our house is a guy who converted from a dumped dog in the park to a “Big OOOF Dog.” You say a big OOOF when he lands in your lap.
This means we have symmetry in the home because Griffin is a “Big OOOF Cat.” When he steps into your lap, you also say a big “OOOF.”
I’ve included a close-up of Griffy’s coat. To me it resembles a meteor shower seen through a West Texas sandstorm.
Unlike almost every other mammal in the house, Griffin doesn’t snore. He just gently sleeps. And, now and then, in the middle of the night, he goes into the kitchen and knocks things off the counter. He likes to hear the clatter followed by an insomniac saying, “What the devil was that? I was almost asleep.”
[To nominate your sleeping cat or dog (or relative who lingered at your house after summer vacation) for the spotlight of “Let Sleeping Dogs Lie & Napping Cats Nap,” send photo and info to [email protected]. We love to show animals demonstrating the art of defeating insomnia. It gives us hope.]
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