I just love our little fur balls!

I firmly believe you should have everything in twos. So when we moved in together and decided right away we needed to hear the pitter-patter of furry feet, we decided we wanted to get two kittens.

We mentioned this to our boss at the time, who told us that one of her cats was unexpectedly pregnant – even though she had paid to have her spayed! (Don’t know what she was charged for, but is sure wasn’t sterilization! Or perhaps our cats were born to a virgin mother??)

At any rate, we agreed to take two of the kittens before they were even born.

When the blessed day arrived, she told us she knew the two we would want. There were two silver tabbies in the litter of four, and they were both girls. Perfect!

We waited for weeks until they were old enough to come home with us. We traveled to our boss’s home in the pitch dark, over curvy, hilly roads. When we got there, we found two adorable little darlings! It was honestly love at first sight.

Our boss insisted that they say goodbye to their mother by having one last swig of milk, which they both promptly threw up on those curvy, hilly roads on the way home.

We had gotten all kinds of toys, sparkly balls, catnip balls, balls with bells in them. We had even grown grass indoors for them to eat. (They were afraid of it! How cute is that?) Thus began their days of being spoiled.

We named them after alcohol – Brandy and Bailey. Like proud new parents, we took rolls and rolls of film of them. (It would be years before we owned our first digital camera)

They are now approaching “middle age” for cats, and I am so sad about that. We got them a year before we got married, and only a few months after we moved in together. I can’t imagine our lives without them! (My husband always says that when we retire and get our RV and are out and about, “the ladies” – as we call them – will be right there with us)

I actually do like dogs, but my husband and I just can’t commit to something that requires so much time. Our cats are low maintenance. We can leave them for a weekend trip with a giant bowl of food and water. When we get home, they act like they couldn’t have cared less that we were gone – until sometime in the middle of the night when they become VERY clingy, which lasts for days!

There are many reasons I prefer cats to kids.

1. Cats are quiet. Kids are not. Nuff said.

2. Cats are self-sufficient. Kids are anything but. Our cats bathe themselves. They take regular naps without any effort on our part. We just have to fill the bowl – then they feed themselves when they are hungry!

3. For the most part, our cats sleep all night. Judging from my new nephew, kids never do! (I admit that Bailey likes to lick my hair about 4AM, but I can usually shoo her away and fall back asleep, while my sister has to get up and make a bottle)

4. If we are going to be home late, we don’t need a cat sitter. You can’t leave a child home by herself.

5. While cleaning the litter box isn’t exactly a good time, it beats a dirty diaper any day! And we clean it a few times a week, not a zillion times a day!

6. They are indoor cats, so we don’t worry about them getting in fights with bullies in the neighborhood or getting any diseases. We don’t stay up because they are late for their curfew, question their choice of friends or boyfriends, or worry about either of them getting pregnant (they are spayed!).

Yes, they are spoiled, and yes it is true, cats have “staff”— not owners. But it is well worth it when you have a warm, purring bundle of fur sleeping next to you on your pillow at night, or curled up on your lap as you read a good book.

I hope they are around forever, because my heart will just break when something happens to either of them…