There are few types of love more powerful than the love of one’s child, unless, of course, it’s the love of one’s cat.

Say, what?

That’s right. There is a select group of people for whom the love of their cat is enough to make them do irrational things like, oh, not travel for 12 years lest their kitty misses them. I know . . . crazy right? Except, I’m one of them. But that’s only the half of it. Two years after my book Taking Charge of Your Fertility was first published back in 1995, I was faced with a rather scary issue. I kept awakening from a recurring nightmare that I was being suffocated. Once I realized what was going on, I did what any normal, nay, obsessed person would do. I drafted a legal document, of course.

I’ll let the document speak for itself:

December 17, 1997

To Whom It May Concern:

If I should die from suffocation while sleeping, this is a letter to explain what undoubtedly occurred. My cats sleep with me, and three times now, I have awoken to a panicky lack of breath, barely able to gather the strength to push one of my cats off of my neck. Although not likely, it’s possible that one day one of my cats may accidentally suffocate me in my sleep. If this should happen, please know that it was my decision to continue to let my kitties sleep in my bed, and was obviously willing to take a chance — a chance which only a kitty-lover could truly understand.

Because this is such a bizarre likelihood, I have asked a couple of my friends to witness my signing this page, so that there will be absolutely no doubt about its validity.

Toni Weschler, MPH