"my cat"
had we known how his personality would have turned out we would have named him nermal. not only is he gray but his has made it his life's purpose to be the cutest kitty in the whole wide world. mostly he just acts like a dog. his story began in 2005 when i took our first cat to the vet to get him fixed and his annual shots. since i have "sucker" tattooed on my forehead i left the vet's with not one, but two cats. the lady insisted that the cat i was taking home as about a year old and he was fixed and declawed. well, once the first cat came out of his drugged stupor they proceeded to go at it. we spent the rest of the night listing to the sounds of two "tom" cats yowling and hissing at each other. by the next morning i awoke to the smell of tom cat spray and they were still going at it. as i was trying to get the new cat out from under the bed i learned he was in fact not declawed. i also felt the numerous scars on his neck which was a good indication he was probably an actual tomcat. so...back to the vet we go with the new cat in tow. since i had forgotten to put cover-up on my "sucker" tattoo i was quickly convinced that i simply could not leave without a cat. this time a kitten. he was in the large tiered cage up front. he was about twice the size of the other 4 kittens and the only one that was not black. as much as i would have liked one of the smaller ones i took hubby's irrational superstition against black cats in to consideration and settled on the gray one. as he got older, like all kittens, he grew, and grew, and grew some more. by his next trip to the vet he was 17 lbs. (and this was after he had been sick for a while with kidney problems). after about a year his personality began to develop and he became the type of cat hubby grew to adore. he basically acted like a dog. he would sit on the couch with you while you watched tv. when it was time for bed he would hop up in to his spot and hunker down for the night. and unlike most cats, he looooooooves his belly rubbed. his favorite position is laying right up against you, back to your leg so you can lay your arm down between his and rub his belly until he falls asleep. that, in a nutshell, is my cat.
"his cat"
this little bundle of joy came to us in the winter of...2006 i believe. it was our second winter in the trailer and we had gone to only using the wood stove for heat and occasionally the small gas heater in the living room. she was the last of 3 cats that had been living under the trailer, probably since we moved in, that had survived the neighbor's dogs. i'm guessing the reason she probably survived was because she was the only one we couldn't pet. she was not mean, just not friendly like the other two had been. ok she was super squirrel skiddish and would run and hide if the wind blew. so we would leave food out for her under the stairs of the porch and block it in so the dogs couldn't get to it. i knew she had probably been living by the heating ducts to stay warm and i was all distraught over how she would survive the winter. so what started as little suggesting in december that maybe we should bring her in, just for the winter, since it would be so cold and all, turned in to full blow bawling fits when the snow would lay for more than 5 minutes. one day i came home and hubby greeted me with "well you better be happy because i got your damn cat in". me being the sceptic that i am proceeded to question him as to how he did it. he then narrated this epic tale of trickery, snatching and tossing her in. i of coarse had my doubts. he then proceeded to show me his battle wounds (which were actually pretty bad. i went through half a bottle of peroxide before he couldn't stand it any more). thrilled to no end i proceeded to look for my new kitty. i searched through the whole house and saw neither hide nor hair of her. i even checked the little box to see if there might have been some sign she had been in there. (having 2 cats already i'm really not sure what i thought i would find. i've not gotten to the point yet where i can tell one cat's poop from another except that it seems some is smaller) so doubt was in play. a day passed and i questioned hubby. two days pass and i started accusing him of throwing the cat in the river. three days pass and i'm convinced there was no cat and he'd scraped his arms at work. but on the fourth day, well night to be precise, i got up to go get a drink of water and there she was on the counter lapping at the puddle that had formed in the sink. she quickly took off and hid in a location i am still uncertain of. i ran back to the bedroom and started hugging and kissing dear hubby. "you DID bring her in!" i exclaimed. "it's three o'clock in the damn morning!" he replied. after several more "i love you darlin" and him grumbling under his breath "damn cat, nearly took my arm off" and "i told you i brought her in, but nooo, you didn't believe me." i went to sleep dreaming of my new kitty and all the fun times we would have. it took almost a year before we could pet her without having to wait for her to come to her food dish. she would still growl the whole time. after 2 years she would actually come to you to be pet but if you moved to fast she would bolt out of sight. threes years later she would actually let you pet her but there was no picking her up. she would latch on to whatever surface she was on and it sounded like pulling super duty velcro apart. she held the nick name "V. C." for a while, short for velcro cat. now here we are at four years and she will sit in your lap, but only after pacing for 20 minutes and you can pick her up and carry her for very short distances, like 5 steps. or within sight of her food dish. all in all though she has become a fixture in our family, even if most other people don't beleive she exists because she still runs and hides when anyone other than me or hubby come in the house. she is also competing for the title of "cutest kitty in the world".
"our dog"
now her story began quite some time ago. this little 8 lb. wonder ended up being part of our inheritance when hubby's nanny passed away this year. she got along well enough with the cats and since both pretty much out weighed her and could jump on top of anything higher than 2 feet they established a quick understanding. she's literally been in the family for years. hubby's uncle and aunt had gotten her and another dog very similar to her in size and general appearance from a lady they knew sometime before hubby and i had started dating. i had met her on several visits to the family over the years. when uncle and aunt ended up moving to a place that did not have a fenced yard they gave her to nanny. well nanny already had a dog that did not like any other animal in the house period. so she gave her to a long time friend. well after several occurrences of her running out the front door and taking off to parts unknown the lady decided maybe this wasn't the best for her so back to nanny's she went where she continued on her wild adventures of dashing out the front door at any opportunity she got. on one of the later escapes someone had found her and called the number on the tag (which nanny had conveniently "forgotten" to change to hers) and explained that they had found this sweet little dog and wanted to return it. the lady promptly corrected them and told her who the rightful owner was to which she was returned. she still enjoys her little jaunts out in to the world when hubby forgets to shut the door quickly behind him. we also found she doesn't go in to fits in the car as long has hubby can keep her on his lap and crack the window so she can stick her head out when she feels like it. mom-in-law told us on one of the last visits that if we couldn't keep her to go ahead and find her a home, just don't tell them about it. i've grown quite fond of her and as her behavior has become quite influenced by the cats she's quite a joy to have around. if i could just get her to start purring...
