Meet Mario

Mario will be 14 years old in September of this year. He is a very special cat. He is super sweet. His 3 favorite things to do are; sleeping, eating and cuddling me a night. Hence, his nick name "Cuddle bug".

I have had Mario since he was 6 weeks old. I saw an ad in the newspaper that read "Free Kitten to a Good Home". I went and picked him out of the litter. He was a tiny thing and fluffy. I didn't know what to call him so I let him pick his name. His choices were "Fluffy" or "Mario". I would alternate between names when calling him. He responded to Mario so.... that's what his name is. Nothing bad has happened to Mario in his life with me.

I am not so sure about his previous lifetimes. I say this because Mario is afraid of everything, including and especially his shadow. He is afraid when the air-conditioner goes on. He use to be afraid of cat toys and then Kitty came along and he learned how to play with them. He will not play with his cat toys alone. He would just join in with Kitty during play time. And he has nightmares almost every night.

I learned the hard way not to wake a cat having nightmares. About 21 years ago my cat, Bebe, was sleeping and having a nightmare and I stooped down to wake him up and he lunged into my face. His teeth literally cut my top lip all the way through in 2 places. I had to go to Santa Monica Hospital Emergency Room and have 32 stitches. So when Mario begins his nightly whimpering I just talk to him and he'll wake up from the nightmare.

The video is of the only thing I have been able to teach Mario.... a duet.

Ciao