My cats crawling in bed with me when I'm having a bad day. Meowing at me at 5:00am because 'MOM IT'S TIME FOR BREAKFAST WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!" Aggressive headbutts to the shin while I'm trying to write this blog post, because goddamn are my cats needy.
Cats. Kittens. Natures deadliest hunter in a 6 pound package. I adore them in all shapes and sizes. But my absolute favourite cats are MY cats. This is a 100% self indulgent post where I am going to coo and cry about how much my two little brats mean to me. I'm justifying it because a friend said she wanted me to write about them. And who am I to deny my audience?
I guess I can start with some introductions. Starting with the princess of our household, my resident diva who moonlights as a trash gremlin:
Icarus (AKA: Iggy, Iggums, Iggybum, Trash Monster, Little Bird, ect..)
This little girl was a birthday gift from one of my longest, and best friends when we were living together. He had picked up all the supplies we needed for a kitten, and hid them with our neighbors. On my birthday weekend we drove to the Humane Society (him only giving me directions, not saying where we were going.) That weekend I didn't actually go home with a cat because I didn't feel like I had bonded with anyone. We went the next weekend, and Iggy was the first kitten I looked at. She proceeded to hold my hand with her little paw, start purring and giving me kisses. She had chose me. We didn't even look at the other cats because I only had eyes for her. I may have cried. She is probably the best birthday gift I have received to date. She is a my lifelong companion and confidante. She is the most photogenic cat I know. She will sit and pose for pictures all day, and them crawl on my lap to cuddle. I love her so much it hurts. From what we can surmise she is a torbie (tabby/tortie mix) variety. Don't let her beautiful eyes and teddy soft fur deceive you though; she is a nasty little goblin when she wants to be. Her favourite place to lay is in old boxes and she lives to eat anything off of our floors. Even with her goblin behaviours though, we love her so much.
Margaret (AKA: MarMar, MarsBar, Weirdo, Noodle, ect..)
We got this little girl almost two years ago. A friend of my partner had a litter of barn kittens who had been attacked by coyotes, so she was trying to get the rest homed as soon as she could before more were taken away. She sent us pictures of the remaining kittens, and I fell in love with one kitten who had ears so big they could be satellites. About a month after we chose her, she was brought to our apartment and it was another case of love at first sight. She was curious and just wanted to explore right away. Unfortunately the resident diva doesn't handle new cats very well at first; so MarMar was sequestered away to our room with her own litter and food for the time being. Iggy (despite being about 7 times the kittens size) hid on top of our fridge for the first few hours after the interloper had entered her space. Over the course of about 1.5/2 months we introduced the two cats and let them interact under our supervision. Margaret had decided Iggy was her best friend. Iggy hissed at Margaret. It was a work in progress relationship for a while.
Now of course, they are best friends. It make my cat momma heart happy to see them cuddled together on their tree, or on the couch. Both of them are filled with so much love for us. Even though they express it in different ways. Iggy is definitely the more cooperative/passive cat. She loves being picked up and cuddles, or being on your lap at the desk. As long as she's close to us she is happy. Margaret is a little more aloof. She also loves to cuddle, but she does not like to picked up or held. But if she gets the idea in her head that you're going to bed? She will stand in the hallway and meow at you until you get in bed. If you comply, she'll come curl up with you on top of, or under the duvet, and settle in for a good long cuddle and/or sleep.
On some of my hardest days, these two keep my world bright. They love me on my best days, and on my worst. They don't ask questions, and the don't make (many) demands.
Do any of you have pets? Had a pet as a child? If so what was your experience? I'd love to hear about your stories about your owns babies.
Until Tomorrow
Kass Daily
Asleep on my lap