Boo clung to me, paws over my shoulder like a baby and shook all over.

"Let's see how much he weighs,"  the vet's assistant asked.

17 pounds. 

I took him into the examining room.  The vet looked him over, gave him a shot.  Boo didn't cotton to the vet, but didn't resist him.  I think the vet noticed, because at the end of the visit, he got in Boo's face, trying to be cute, which Boo didn't like.  I can't say I blame him.  I wouldn't like it either.

Especially if some fat, balding guy with a dick broom over his upper lip got in my face after fingering my ass.  Actually, I think I might get pissed.

Okay, I don't think he fingered Boo's ass that time.  The first time I brought him in, he did.  Boo didn't really seem to mind.

I asked the vet if boo was overweight.

"No, no, no." he said, "If he were a normal sized cat, I'd say he's about 8-10 pounds overweight.  But with his frame, he's just right.  Cut back a little, because he's a house cat, but otherwise, no."

I looked at Boo.  He was uncomfortable, and clearly out of his element.

"He looks like he has some Mang-Kuun Cat in him."  the vet said.

Immediately my mind was filled with visions of a cat from the 14th Ling Dynasty, a cat specially bred for the emperor, to sit in his lap and keep his entire lap warm while he subjugated the Tibetan rebellion.   An exotic cat, with a long lineage, hearkening back centuries.

Nope.  Swing and a miss, there, quasimodo.

"Mang-kuun Cat?"  I asked.

"Yeah.   Maine Coon cat.  It was a local wild cat they domesticated, from the Northeast, around Maine."

Oh.  Right.

*    *     *

A few days ago I was by the clothes washer, naked except for white tube socks, putting a garbage bag into the trash can, to line it.  The cat was with me.

I unfurled the black garbage bag with a snap, and looked at the kitty.

"Free ride ends today,cat." I said in a low, gravelly, drawl, looking at the feline.

Boo trotted out of the room immediately.

I had to laugh.