@Lilymoon great name. I never give my beasts names until I get to know them first. It means more to me that way and I love the name you gave Zen and the reason why.
My cat is compassionate and appears to understand whatever I say to him. He seems to have adopted a homeless cat that kept coming into the backyard, and began inviting it to share his food. Since I started chiding him for getting fat -- the Vet wants him to lose weight -- he makes a point of getting me to come check the amount of food HE is eating whenever he eats, letting me know that most of it is going to his adopted friend. Unfortunately his larges got extended to a raccoon and the dog next door and whomever else was wandering by at night, so I had to start locking the cat door at a night. So now we have negotiated a schedule when he will let me know it is time to lock the cat door, and whether he wants to be locked in or out for the night. He seems to understand what I say to him far better than I understand cat speak, so he pantomimes a lot of things.
