Prince Albert - a princely cat!

A dear friend of mine adopted a cat a couple of years ago. The little black mite came from an animal shelter and captured my friend's heart, though I don't think she'd ever had a cat before and was surprised at her reaction to him.

She named him Prince Albert after her home city... though that hasn't been her home for many years, but like many of us, we call where we were born and spent our early years the "place we're from."

I've threatened to take his photograph for some time and yesterday managed to remember my camera when I knew I'd be seeing my friend. When I arrived the cat greeted her enthusiastically. He meowed with a scratchy voice and my friend laughed - "He has lung problems," she commented. Ironic and funny because she has lung problems herself and is allergic to cats.

Nonetheless Prince Albert is a prince of a cat and rules the household. His photograph is on my friend's husband's cell phone as a screensaver. A better photo I might add than the ones I was able to get.

This is one cat who knows the camera is pointed at him and he wasn't about to give me the nice head-on shot I wanted... So the first photograph, he turned his head to his right.

My friend tried to encourage Prince Albert (she doesn't shorten his name) to look at the camera. You can see he was having none of that.

But he purred and purred.

Loudly I might add!

And he flirted and rolled and rubbed his face on his climbing/scratching post and wouldn't look at me for at least 20 minutes.

Finally we put him back on the cushion on the table and after many attempts by me, he curled up and lay down and barely opened his eyes to stare at me and say "Oh all right, but this is as good as it gets."

You HAVE to love a cat with that much determination to have his way and who looks as if he always has the last laugh.

What I couldn't get over was how happy he is, how he would cuddle in my friend's arms and he purred the entire time I was there, obviously enjoying putting on a show. First it was this profile, then the other, then the back of his head, then a roll, a curl and I'm sure somewhere in there I saw a smile but wasn't quick enough to catch it.

What a cat... no wonder he's so loved.