Oh boy.

RAINDROPS KEEP FALLING FROM MY EYES...

NO! NO! THESE AREN'T RAINDROPS, THEY ARE TEARS - HARD, BITTER, TEARS, FOR IT SEEMS THAT NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES I GIVE "THE CAT IS NOT LIKE A DOG BUT IS LIKE A CAT" LECTURE, SOMEONE ELSE POPS UP AND RIGHT AWAY STATEs THAT THEIR CAT IS LIKE A DOG!

I will quit yelling now.

The cat is like a cat. When I walk down the hallway in my house, it is not uncommon to see one, two, three, or even four cats following me. But the dog - she only follows if she thinks I have something for her to eat or that I am going to take her on a walk. To the cats, its just doggone fun to follow - the word "doggone" - as we all know - having nothing to do with dogs when used in this manner.

When my children were small, they sometimes followed me down the hall, too. Would anyone have dared describe this as doglike behaviour on their part? Sometimes, they even wagged their tails and scratched themselves. Still, we did not liken them to dogs.

Now, when you see your cat sniffing a fire hydrant, lifting one leg and letting loose, I will consider conceding that there might possibly be something doglike in that behaviour, but even then I suspect there would be a perfectly good, feline explanation, for a cat always behaves and acts like a cat and never as a dog. This is true even for barking cats.

There. Having given my lecture for the 9007th time, let me conclude by stating that Quoddy is quite a good quod indeed and is most fortunate to be loved - as those who love him are to be loved by him. May you all make great mischief together.