I really like this one also. Neither the bats in the belfry nor not knowing beans bother me. The second fits the tone, and the first is a sly dig at the common phrase.
The thing that bugs me is the use of 'before' in the second half. It seems to me that what N means is: when you are old and have all these ailments, you'll be happy to have a cat and will take back what you've said about me having too many. But instead, she (I agree with DG - I can't picture this as anyone other than an elderly woman) says, 'Before these things happen…' Or: while you are still young and don't have anything wrong with you, you will be happy for a cat to warm your lap. Which doesn't fit.
But that doesn't stop me from enjoying the poem immensely anyways.
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