Cats Can Be...Interesting

I've had cats ever since I was living on my own.  I grew up with dogs and have nothing against them really, but cats are more...well my type of pet.

Dogs are like toddlers, they need your attention constantly. They love their people their lives revolve around their people and for their people, lives can revolve around the dogs.  There's nothing wrong with that.  More power to anyone who has a dog in their life.  But its not for me.

See if dogs are like toddlers, then cats are more like teenagers.  They require supervision, but if you're not home constantly they'll get by without you.  But like teenagers they do still need their parents.  Case in point, every cat I've ever had. 

They all have different personalities, but they all have one thing in common.  I'm Mommy and Mommy had better give attention when they demand it.  Daddy is very important too.  In fact to some of the little girl cats Daddy is more important than Mommy. 

But not every cat runs up to the door when I come home, (I've had a few that will) like every dog I've ever met does.  They're content to give me space and as long as I feed them that space is pretty comfortable.  If they don't get fed when they're demanding food they can also be pretty bratty.  See, I told you. Teenagers.

We tend to adopt (get found by) cats who are past the one year mark.  Personalities are pretty established and we have an idea of how they'll fit in (or not) with the other cats.  By the way, cats are not pack animals. Humans want them to get along but cats are really not thrilled by the inclusion of other felines to the family.  So there's always a hierarchy a new cat has to fit into and that's not easy on anyone, including the cats.

So two or three weeks ago when my husband's ex found a kitten on the side of the roach and my husband couldn't resist the kitten when he saw her, we ended up with a kitten for the first time since I was in my twenties.  My husband hasn't ever dealt with a kitten.  She's four months old.  And she's a little crazy...like run around the house for the fun of it crazy.  But she's very sweet-natured and plays with Helo who while getting older still likes to act like a loon himself.

We're calling her Tali.  Which is, for any Mass Effect fans out there, short for Tali'Zorah vas Normandy.  That means if we get a male cat anytime hereafter we'll have to call him Garrus or Reegar.  If you don't play Mass Effect don't worry about trying to understand the reference. I've mentioned before that the husband and I are kinda geeks.  Since the names of our cats range from homages to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Battlestar Galactica and Sin City no one should be surprised a video game has also snuck in there.

But she's a tiny little thing who likes to kill any roach that dares encroach upon the house and has already figured out that when the pantry door opens she's very likely to get food.  She's smart, and sweet and our plan for only having three cats went out the window when the husband fell in love with her.  I think it'll be worth it in the end.  She's getting Helo moving again and God knows he needs the exercise.  She's maybe a third his size but they chase each other all over when he's in the mood to play.  So that's a good thing. 

And now... a few pictures. 

I like this climbing tree and my big brother can keep an eye on me and the yard

What is that big thing? Is that the dollhouse my sissy keeps saying is hers?

My brother likes to sit like this...I can stretch out like him.

So that's the newest addition to the family.  Tali'Zorah vas Normandy.  Undoubtedly she'll be getting in all sorts of trouble and the dollhouse will need to be closely guarded.  Wish me luck.

On the dollhouse front Linda got all my plexiglas cut for me and I'm working on finishing the case. I hope to have more of an update next week.