To avoid assassination attempts by the nobles of Azure City, he pretended to be senile and easily swayed (especially by his cat, Mr. Scruffy) to make them feel that all his policies were due to other nobles' manipulations.
He pretended to be senile and easily swayed (especially by his cat) to make them feel that all his policies were due to other nobles' manipulations. This was to avoid assassination attempts by the nobles of Azure City. Mr. Scruffy was his cat.