My Cat, My Companion

One can see the Latin panis, bread, lurking within 'companion.' A companion, then, is one with whom one breaks bread or shares a meal. In this root sense, my cat Caissa is undeniably my companion. For after she has enjoyed her Fancy Feast repast, she is by my side eyeing my linguine in clam sauce or sauteed scallops. Gastronomically at least, nothing is too good for her. I acquiesce in her demands. But that is the extent of my humanization of her. She has acquired the human vices of gluttony and sloth but none of the human virtues.