Mr. Romeo welcomes you to another Feline Friday. This is a typical scene, Romeo basking in a bit of sun by the door out to the front deck, with Ms. Wally lurking around and hoping to grab the sun if Romeo happens to move for any reason.

With eight cats, there are lots of scenes like this. They squabble over my lap when I’m sitting in front of my laptop. They compete for Meda’s lap while we’re watching television. Ms. Kili and Romeo argue over who gets to eat out of the first dish of canned cat food to be served.

This photo was taken before Romeo’s special visit to his favorite vet at VCA in Kaneohe on Tuesday afternoon. I was downstairs working on my Civil Beat column Tuesday morning when Romeo came in through the window and curled up next to me. I was idly scratching and stroke him from different angles when I noticed a lump that really shouldn’t have been there. Muscle? Nope, out of place. Feeling around a bit more, I found a couple of scratches and scabs hidden in the thick fur on his chest. So it was off to the vet to have the wound cleaned and get Romeo an antibiotic shot (meaning I don’t have to shove the pill into him twice a day for two weeks).

This is all more evidence of Romeo’s amazing transformation. When we first adopted him, he did get in some fights. At that time, all the scratches were on his rear end, obviously received as he ran from the action. In more recent times, though, it’s all front end damage. No more Romeo fleeing the scene at the first sign of trouble. In a lot of ways, I wish he would go back to the “run away” strategy and cut down on the wear and tear. But he doesn’t really listen to me.

–> See all of today’s Friday Felines!