and another thing (x2)

(1)  In my writing I've already been trying to phase out all the italics—which I realized makes sense in dialogue or in the "mouth" of a conversational narrator, particularly if we're talking about a kid (Holden Caulfield, e.g.), but which starts to get to be a little much if you're using it all the fucking time—gets to be, like, you know...overkill.

    But so now I'm starting to think I'm overusing the em-dash—just a little.

(2)  Cats don't really have names.  A cat's name is not part of him or of his life, but rather an aspect of his relationship with a human being.  I.e., "Capt. Whiskers (ret.)" properly belongs not to the Captain alone but rather to his domestication by (or rather his self-domestication in the company of) his owner human companion(s).

a self-domesticated bookstore cat

(possibly "Wanker")