The Cat Rule

I have so much work to do.

I have to make enough comics to maintain a good enough buffer for emergencies or unexpected issues. I have to make four pieces for my Patreon patrons this month. I have a queue of well over thirty commissions that still need to be fulfilled as Kickstarter rewards. And I have to squeeze all this work in during the precious few hours my son is at school, because once he comes home I become one of his main sources of entertainment.

With all that in mind, and with all that on my plate, I let over an hour of precious work time slip by yesterday because my elderly cat decided to curl up on my lap before I could get to my drawing desk and I didn’t have the heart to move him.

It’s a good thing my job is on the internet because every single person I related this story to completely understood and agreed it was a valid reason for a work delay. My wife, who works remotely for a hospital, could not reasonably use that excuse for her job, despite the internet’s favor of it.

Every good cat owner knows that you don’t move your cat when it decides to curl up in your lap. If it’s a new cat, you absolutely do not want to discourage that behavior because it is one of the reasons you get a cat as a pet. If it’s a cat that isn’t normally a lap cat but decides to curl up, you want to relish the moment for as long as it lasts; sometimes it’s five minutes, sometimes it’s over an hour. And if it’s an elderly cat, you know your snuggle time is increasingly precious and you don’t want to cut it short for the sake of work, even when your job is a dream job.

Cat cuddles are among the best feelings in the world, and when you get them you ought to savor them for as long as you can.