WANTED!!

First of all, here are two portraits of our “new” kitties, Leo and Cricket. We adopted them both this past summer. They’ve come along nicely– Leo (bottom) is no longer afraid of people, other cats, loud noises, open spaces, or his own shadow (the shelter had named him Skittles, so sad). Cricket is still fierce and incredibly serious (we call her Burt sometimes, because she has a straight black line of a mouth just like the character on Sesame Street), but she’s gotten a lot better with us. She tolerates being held… and then lets loose a very articulate and long statement on why she needs to be put back down. They are not littermates, but I think they have grown to like each other well enough. They are polar opposites, and occasionally take a swing at one another (they are especially good at the “I’m-not-touching-you” game)…

As I get older, I inevitably get closer to becoming a Crazy Cat lady (think of the film “Grey Gardens”). The other day, while dropping off some donations to the cat adoption center, the volunteer woman told me about the fourth cat she had brought home from work– an “occupational hazard” as she described– who had maxed out at around 20 pounds. That’s a footstool of a feline!! Yikes!!

I don’t think I’d let myself get more than two cats, but now that I have two, I realize how lonely our elder cat must have been for 17 years. The “species friend” bond is something very unique. Cricket will nicely groom Leo while he is sleeping, tenderly licking his face and straightening his whiskers… but if he moves, she’s quick to back-foot-rabbit kick him in the face until he stops squirming or cries out in protest. But then again, maybe that IS what siblings do… I wouldn’t know ☺