Chrissmassy Cat

See the hairy dude under the tree? Yes, the artificial tree. Shut up. Little Miss Sunshine State hates vacuuming pine needles in July.
That's Tigger. Doesn't he look all sweet and cuddly? He's not having a bad day. He looks like this all the time. When we got him 10 years ago he was a tiny little ball of grey fluff.

He's now 24 pounds of Maine Coon Cat with a tiny bit of his mama's calico mixed in. And he bites me. Hard. Often. The vet called him an "agressive hunter". I've almost thrown him out many times. His favorite activity is biting and standing on your chest while you are sleeping so you will wake up.
His favorite place to hang out is in between us in bed while we read, so he can get his back and his head scratched at the same time. Until he gets tired of being scratched and he bites me. Did I mention he bites?

Tigger LOVES the (artificial) tree. He's never been outside. We had a coyote issue on Cape Cod. Now we have a gator issue in the Sunshine State. His Maine DNA thinks it has been magically transported back to the cold New England forest. He can smell the evergreen. He can feel the snow under his paws. He can taste the small forest creatures he has agressively hunted.

Any day now I'll have to be brave and put the presents under the (artificial) tree. Tigger may not want to give up any space in the (artificial) Maine forest. He may bite me.
Somebody hand me the oven mitts