Another cat of the week! Nice, big one from Neil-

My best friend, Boaz, always had dogs, never cats. So after his last dog died (if I recall correctly, due to a culmination of various fight injuries by the neighborhood Doberman) his mom decided to mix it up and go with yet another species (they had a very bad experiences with sea turtles, rabbits and fish).
Gatul the cat was named by a gorgeous Brazilian model that came to Tel Aviv for a photo shoot and decided to stick around. Gatul is a combination of Gato and Hatool (Cat in Portuguese and Hebrew, respectfully). She now lives in Greece with an Olympic Medalist high jumper, but I digress. She had really long legs. Ok, never mind. I was always at Boaz’s house, going straight there after school, and while arriving with the preconception that I’m more of a dog person, I immediately understood why. The cat would not stop scratching me, biting me, or both. He conducted sneak attacks, climb the back of my favorite lazy boy and jump on my head, scratching my face. I then threw him against the wall, television or into the fire place. I loved that cat. I wanted it dead. Over the years Gatul relaxed, and I think the fact that I moved overseas helped our relationship. He grew old and sweet, and when I found out how to give him small seizures by panting heavily, the relationship just grew stronger. Gatul died this September, and Boaz was very sad. I was very sad too, I think, or maybe relieved. Not sure.