In an earlier life I rented a small duplex in the Montrose section of Houston. My companion during much of this time was a fluffy male cat I called Ivan the Terrible.

My friend Lew left Ivan in my care - permanently, as it turned out - when he set out on another of his long trips. Unfortunately he had liked to tease the kitten by rolling him over on his back and rubbing his stomach, while Ivan tried to bite and kick his hand. A terrible trick to teach a cat, because as it gets stronger the behavior is no longer any fun to anyone and the cat doesn’t understand why people get upset when he’s trying to play.

We had sidewalks in that neighborhood and Ivan liked to sleep on his back on the one in front of our duplex, where he was a temptation to passersby. I remember one afternoon a stranger rang the doorbell to complain about Ivan’s behavior. I offered her a band-aid but it didn’t salve her annoyance. I came close to marrying a girl that I met after Ivan hooked her necklace and refused to let go when she stooped over to pet him.

I made a mistake and waited a long time before getting Ivan neutered. As a result he had a lot of tomcat qualities. Not being much of a homebody in those days I just left a window partially open all the time so he could come and go as he pleased. Ivan pretty much ruled that end of our block, chasing off other cats and making himself well-known to many of the humans. When I was home Ivan would follow me around like a dog. At the time I thought that was odd behavior for a cat, although I have since learned better. Actually I can’t say that I provided much of a home for him, so the odd thing is that he stuck with me at all.

Ivan went with me when I left Houston to take a job in another city, but he had to become strictly an indoor cat. He didn’t adapt well and soon got sick and died.