Luna grooms Son #1 the most. I think it’s the mop of curly hair. He clearly needs more work.
I’m pretty sure my cat thinks I’m a bad mom, or at least a negligent one. Every night before I go to bed I check on my four kiddos to make sure they’re actually asleep and not, say, hiding all the parts of the alarm clock they took apart because it was “too noisy and woke them up in the mornings” and also because taking things apart is fun. (True story.) And every night when I go into my two oldest boys’ room, I see our cat, Luna, licking vigorously at their hair and faces or prowling like a guard kitty by the door.
“She thinks that she has to put us to bed ’cause you’re too busy with the other kids!” Son #1 laughed.
“Or maybe she just thinks you guys are dirty because you don’t bathe enough!” I retorted as I tucked the blanket around both him and the cat grooming him. Luna laid a paw possessively over his face. “I know, I know, he’s your baby,” I said to her.
Awww… holding hands/paws!
Ever since we got our little black-and-white tuxedo cat, she’s decided that my kiddies are her kitties and does her best to take care of them. Although, apparently that includes tackling because her favorite game is to hide until someone passes by and then jump out at them, rearing up on her back feet and flashing her paws at them. I’m sure she means this whole Jungle Cat routine to be menacing but it ends up looking like kitty jazz hands at the end of a Broadway routine. (Can I make a Cats joke here?) Either way, my kids love the stuffings out of her. Sometimes it’s a little too much. We’ve had to have more than one talk about how we just pet her and not hug her. Even when my kids are manhandling her, she takes it quite well only letting out the occasional pitiful mew.
This whole having a pet thing is new for us. Before Luna, we only ever had a fish (creatively named Bubbles). We originally got her to help with our mouse problem – which she speedily fixed! – but she’s turned out to be a gift to us in so many ways. Since she can’t talk, our kids have had to learn how to anticipate her needs and have gotten quite good at knowing when she needs food or isn’t feeling well or just wants to be left alone. They’ve also had to learn how to put her needs first sometimes, how to be gentle and how to make sure she doesn’t accidentally get locked in the basement. Watching them come up with little gifts and homemade presents for her has melted my heart on more than one occasion.
I’m hoping that they take all of these skills with them into their interactions with people too. Having grown up with pets, I figured ours would like one but I hadn’t realized how much we would love her and even grow to need her. For example, Son #2 has a deeply sensitive nature and is easily overwhelmed. In the past this manifested as tantrums, crying and hiding but now his first reaction is to find Luna, stick his face in her fur and listen to her purr. Nothing makes him feel better faster than Luna.
Each animal comes with their own unique personality and after seeing my mama cat in action, I think it’s kismet we found each other. The other day I found my son whispering into her fur. When I asked him what he was doing he replied, “I tell her everything I’m worried about and she tells me everything is going to be okay.”
Since Luna is officially a part of our family now, I want to take care of her just like I do the rest of them and part of that means making sure she eats healthy yummy food like we do. And her health is really important to me – I honestly don’t know what we’d do without her! I was recently asked to try out SHEBA® Entrées for Cats and have been impressed with how much both Luna and I approve of them. She can be pretty picky but all SHEBA® Pates are made with meat first recipes – using real beef, poultry, or seafood as the first ingredient. I know it seems cheesy to worry about a cat like I do a kid but since she’s kind of a stand-in mama (and bather), I just do.
Do you have a pet? What is his/her personality like? Do you worry about what they eat?
This program is sponsored by BlogHer and Sheba. I was compensated for my writing but all opinions are my own.
I have three cats who are like my children. Actually they have replaced my three children who no longer live at home. They love me, follow me around the house, curl up in my lap, and sleep next to me at night. They each have very distinct personalities and make me laugh. I wouldn’t mind having more but my husband says that would make me a cat lady and three is enough. One of the cats is overweight and I worry about him and diabetes. He is the type that eats whatever food is in the bowl and doesn’t stop until it is all gone. The other two only eat a little at a time and it is a battle to make sure they get enough and he doesn’t eat too much. I would really miss them if they were gone.
Aw I love it Grace! I always thought of “cat lady” as a compliment:)
Is this the same cat that you almost lost at a hotel room when you were moving?
Saturday I was at the pet store buying a mouse for my 5-foot ball python (By the way: did you see this story about a snake eating a crocodile?
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26413101 )
There was a big sign in the window advertising T.V. dinners for cats made with fresh salmon and organic chicken! Many people don’t eat that well.
I don’t need a cat; there are a few neighborhood cats who are more than happy to hang out at my place and poop in my front yard. I’ve told them that this is OK as long as they chase the squirrels away from my veggies.
Yes, same one!! And I did not see that news story but I bookmarked it to show my boys – they will LOVE that! So thank you from them, in advance;) I also had that thought about the fancy cat food being more nutritious and high-end than what lots of humans eat. #cognitivedissonance
I don’t have human children (by choice). Instead, I have cats. And, yes, I do refer to them as my kids (I used to say “cat children” but the “cat” kind of fell away over time). Yes, I’m one of THOSE pet people.
Since worrying is my one true calling, I set aside time everyday to worry over my cats. Usually it’s over their health and welfare. I fret that they’re eating too much, not enough, or are getting “too pudgy”. For a while I was very concerned that they needed to eat those expensive hippy dippy foods (like Blue Buffalo) but my husband had to intervene and talk me down from that ledge (he’s good at that).
I also spoil them with both affection and toys (but not food–which is hard because my female, Olive, likes to try all kinds of food and I like to see what she will and won’t eat). Right now I’m thinking about building them some cat furniture. Oh, and training them to use the toilet (though cat poo is icky and shouldn’t go in the sewer so maybe that’s not a good idea even though they love the toilet and learning things so they’d probably be easy to train).
Gym Buddy Allison potty trained her kitty!! She didn’t seem to think it was too hard. I didn’t know that about the sewer though – kitty poo is worse than human poo??
Flushing cat poo could be dangerous to wildlife. Cat poo can contain the parasite toxoplasma gondii (same germ that can make preggo women sick) which survives sewage treatment and eventually ends up in the ocean ecosystem.
That’s why you shouldn’t flush cat poo. Throwing it away is “better” (perhaps because landfills are so full the poo never gets to dissolve? how’s that for thinking about gross stuff).
Of course, there are asterisks all over the information I’ve been reading (nothing is PROVEN 100%). The real wild card is stray cat poo which no one cleans up and ends up in the sewage system.
(and I always wonder how many folks really flush cat poo but I guess pine litter is very popular for just that reason. You just scoop out the solids and flush them and that’s a big reason why the pine litter keeps the odor down–the pine masks the pee stink and the poos are gone so bye bye smell. Pine litter is really nice in that regard.)
Now you know way more about cat excrement than you ever wanted to, huh?
Starting very young (like just before my brother was born) our family has owned dogs.
Or they have owned us, as I have had my suspicions.
Suzie, our first dog, was a Pekingese/Terrier cross. A small black dog who watched over my baby brother diligently while he slept in his crib. Okay, well, she watched from the floor and listened for signs of distress, danger or a subtle shift of position.
Then she would excitedly run from the room to tell my us, mostly my Mom, by giving a little bark and leaning on Mom’s legs then spinning around on the floor like she was chasing her tail. Then she would sit there and stare meaningfully into Mom’s eyes.
Then Mom would say, “Oh, is the baby awake?”
Then Suzie would spin excitedly again and lead Mom back to the crib.
Suzie was turbo fast too. Once when we were visiting relatives Dad had to drive over somewhere and she saw the car was leaving and did not realize that I and some others were still there as she had been exploring. She kept up with the car down the country road at 30 miles per hour, until she heard me running behind her in the distance calling her.
She also did not eat for a week when we left her at my grandparents because were going somewhere by plane. She just missed us so much. And was so excited when we returned.
Then came Finnegan, named by my brother for Casey’s dog Finnegan on the Canadian kid’s show Mr. Dressup.
When I was 14, our family (save my sister and her new husband and baby) went with my Mom’s Dad and some other relatives on a boat and portaging trip in northern Canada where my Grandpa’s trap line was. [to portage: the act of carrying boats and cargo overland to another body of water.]
We hunted and fished along the way, and we chased a moose on one of the water legs of the journey. It swam to the shoreline and ran into the thick bush. Our dog, Finnegan, ran in another direction and my cousins were making fun of it. Silly dog did not know how to hunt, they said. They followed the path the moose took. When we caught up to the moose, our dog, a little Chihuahua-Terrier had the moose cornered. And the moose looked worried.
(Yes, I am half Indian, and I am not upset at Columbus for the name because perhaps he simply could not spell indigenous.)
Then another Suzie, who was also another small Chihuahua/Terrier cross (blonde this time) that could jump up over our back fence or land on top, as she chose. And she could also jump up and ring the doorbell to come in.
(A trick she discovered by accident when she was leaping excited to come in. We were surprised when we answered the door and it was the dog. The dog was very self-satisfied.)
She could also spell. As in “Has the D.O.G. been O.U.T.?” And she would leap up and head for the door. Or “Has the D.O.G. had any M.I.L.K.?” And she would leap up and go to the fridge.
Then came Holly and my sister and brother-in-law and kid’s dog Jingles. Holly and Jingles were sisters, and as their name suggests, we got them both one year at Christmas. And we lived three houses down from each other, so they quite inseparable and adorable and very obedient, as we could walk them without a leash (particularly my Mom) and were stopped short in every “Look! Squirrel!” moment with a gentle “no”.
Our latest family dog, (and when I say family I mean, me, my parents, my sister and her husband, my brother and his family, and my nephews and their families) is DeeDee. She currently resides with my brother and his young family but she happily does a rotation of visiting everyone.
DeeDee is playful and adorable and smart. She stole one of my winter gloves and ran under the kitchen table to tease me.
I said, “Bring that back silly”, and she started running back to me.
And I said, “You need to bring the glove too!”
She stopped and slid, and spun around and ran back and grabbed the glove and dropped it at my feet.
Aw such sweet stories! I had a dog too growing up and he was very much the caring, sweet type. Also, this: “Yes, I am half Indian, and I am not upset at Columbus for the name because perhaps he simply could not spell indigenous” made me laugh out loud.
I don’t think I could function without a cat. There’s been at least one in the house since I was about 10. I partly married my husband because the cat liked him so much, I figured he had to stay! Then, at the height of my depression and anxiety problems, one of my landlord’s cats came and basically purred and head-butted me off the proverbial cliff. It was a really dark moment, and I think that cat may have saved my life, or at least my marriage; a man can only take so much of his wife’s crazy. It left a huge impression on me, because that cat owed me nothing. There’s a lot of talk of cats only pretending to like you because you’re warm or you have food, but I’d never fed this cat, or even spent much time with him. I was just sobbing hysterically in his garden. It’s not just other people God uses to help his children . .
After that I decided I wanted to “give back” to feline-kind in general, and when I was less stressed I found a cat rescue to volunteer with. That was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made, because it’s given me a lot more self-confidence, as well as getting me out of the house. Bringing this comment back to the original topic . . . yes, I think it’s very important what you feed your cat (or dog, or guinea pigs, or whatever)! My own cat, Ziggy gets fed a high quality diet with real meat as the main ingredients. His fur is so soft and even though he’s about 4 now he still bombs around the house like a kitten. On the other hand, I work with the cats at the shelter and they’re all on Purina, because Petsmart gives it us. We’re always grateful for the donation, and we know it would be too expensive for a pet store to be giving us buckets of high-end cat food. However, Purina is kinda junk. It smells like garbage (even the dry food. No. ESPECIALLY the dry food) and after a couple weeks at our adoption center the cats all have greasy, dull coats. This one cat recently got adopted, and then returned after several weeks. His coat felt very dry and brittle the last time I saw him, but whatever those people who almost kept him fed him must have been some good stuff, because his fur felt amazing.
Thank you for the cat post! It made my day!
And your comment made MY day! What a sweet, sweet story. I particularly liked this: “It’s not just other people God uses to help his children . .” Totally agree! (And I’ll remember that about Purina!)
I have 2 cats. They are my children. And the have AWESOME personalities. They are part main coon, which means they are very affectionate. They’re basically dogs in cats bodies. Christmas is 7. He purrs so loud and is not afraid to ask for what he wants. He can open cupboards, jump from counter to counter, and LOVES food. He would eat people food if he could… milk, cheese itz, ice cream… he loves it all. (No we don’t feed it to him but he has stolen our food before!) Christmas is FEARLESS. Jelly is also 7. They come from the same momma but different litters. Jelly is a scaredy cat. I don’t know why because he’s lived with me his whole life and doesn’t even know there are actual BAD THINGS that could happen, yet he is so cautious and careful. He loves napping among the towels in the linen closet or on my lap. He loves to drink water out of a glass from my bedside table. He wants nothing to do with human food except he loves to lick olives. 🙂
Your two sound so much like mine! They are giant, fluffy, affectionate cats that follow us around. Actually, one of mine likes me to follow him around. He’ll sit and stare at me until I get up and walk him around the house. They can open cupboard doors – we had a heck of a time figuring out where to store cat treats so they wouldn’t get at them – and open the screen door to the patio. One of mine sleeps in our linen closet regularly, they both love boxes and baskets.
Okay, I could talk about my cats for hours…I need to get back to work!
Wow, I’m kinda thinking Luna’s a slacker (or has been holding out on us)! She doesn’t open cupboards or doors… although I suppose that makes my life easier haha! Your kitties sound so cute Megan and JavaChick!!
Cats are the best. I have my girl who I brought into the relationship (she’ll take my husband if I’m not around but he’s a distant second- she’s a tortoise shell so that’s just her personality) and then we got a kitten when we moved in together. That baby turned 5 yesterday! He is definitely my husband’s cat. He’s a tuxedo too and is one of the sweetest cats you’ve ever met. I grew up with lots of cats so I couldn’t imagine not having them.
Our cats used to eat a mid-range food. Then my girl had bladder stones. After expensive kitty surgery they both eat expensive prescription food since it’s impossible to feed them different things. Oh, and they drink distilled water! But if it keeps them from recurring it’s worth it. And I’ve noticed that their coats are better and their cat box is less stinky on the prescription stuff. The things we do for our furballs.
Good thing to know about the less stinky poop!! So glad your kitties are okay now:)
Abby, like you,one of my gals also had bladder stones. Now both are eating the special food. One is also trying to lose weight, so meals are measured. All worth it to have healthy fur babies!
Our own Luna, who was a fog, was also a gift to us and, especially, our kids. She always knew exactly what they needed, was ultra-patient with (and highly protective of) them, and just had the perfect instincts for 2 kids with special needs. She lives a long, happy life (she was 14,) and we muss her.
Animals just sometimes KNOW.
And cats are great at keeping secrets. 🙂
Yeah…she was a dog, not fog.
It me! I am a corrupting influence! Or else maybe I breathed on you an infected you with my typing talent, as my all of my comments (including my comment today) are filled with such!
Always!
Perhaps Charlotte knows a remedy!
I thought you meant “frog” and I was like hey, yay for alternative pets? And yes, I agree – sometimes pets just *know* 🙂
I have had my cat longer than I have my husband…over 19 years. He has one as well, so we are full of cat love in our home. Nothing like telling a kitty your worries or having them snuggle up to you when you feel miserable. 🙂
Just read your blog post and you MUST be a Canadian! Because we appear to be having the same weather at the same time!
*high fives for fellow frozen people*
Sending my prayers for you good health and recovery also!
And now I know those thoughts and prayers don’t have to travel as far, what with being in the same country!
If I may?
*hugs*
I agree! And I’m so glad your kitty is keeping you in good company these days, especially with your current health issues! Yay snuggles!
Animals are marvelous, they bring comfort, unconditional love and sometimes protection. Our Cat, or rather independent friend who comes to visit ones in a while (it is a wild cat who we feed, offer shelter and medicine) always comes to greet us when we come home or walks a while with us when we go away.
As a kid I grew up with a dog (bouvier), my mother always knew when something happened to me outside, because the dog reacted to that.
Your comment totally makes me want to get a dog now… Is there one that is particularly good at babysitting? I need Nana from Peter Pan
Nana was fantastic!
I think it’s dependent on the character of every specific dog. I’ve known three cats and non of them were so caring as your Luna, though all of them magnificent in their own specific ways.
have you ever seen this video?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nupfxo2ihQc
Hahah no I hadn’t seen that but it’s adorable! And that husky is beautiful!!
The only children I am ever likely to have are my cats, and I often refer to myself as a crazy cat lady. One of mine was missing for two weeks last spring and I think those might be the most miserable two weeks I have ever lived through.
We feed them good quality dry food that we buy at the vet’s office. We used to also give them wet food from the same brand, but a while back they suddenly started turning their nose up at it (I’m pretty sure the company changed something, though when I contacted them, they said no). So now we buy wet food from a store that specializes in quality pet foods. And we give them plain yogurt with their wet food, because they used to have tummy issues fairly often, and the vet we had at the time said to feed them yogurt – basically, it does the same thing for cats as it does for humans, and also my cats love it. See? Crazy cat lady.
My cats are a healthy almost-12-years-old, and I hope we still have lots of good years ahead.
Huh, I had no idea that yogurt was good for cats!! I am learning so much about kitties today. (And I’m so glad that you still happily have both of yours with you:))
I’ve told you one story about our cat already, and it showed his personality. We had him 15 years and he had attitude! Definitely one of those ‘he owned us’ types. So many stories I could tell. Especially of him charging down the stairs to jump on our bathroom rug and slide to the wall-bat it back in place and repeat. Funnier still when he didn’t realize the door was shut…
His diet consisted of birds/grasshoppers/ mice/etc. Store bought stuff I don’t remember, but it changed a lot.
I love that image of your kitty carpet surfing! That’s hilarious!
We are, sadly, petless at the moment, since our last cat died a couple years ago… yet we’re not rushing to adopt any new ones yet. As much as we love both cats and dogs, we travel and move around so much, it’s just a lot less stressful not to worry about how that might be impacting a sensitive and beloved animal. We took our cat on several cross country road trips with us in our camper van, which was fun! But we’d get totally paranoid whenever we were parked for more than a quick stop that someone would break in and she’d escape. Yet leaving her behind with sitters was wrenching too.
But still… I’m hoping someday when we settle down a little more, like normal people, we’ll have pets again.
Yes, travelling definitely impacts having pets! After losing Luna in our move, I can’t imagine how people regularly travel with pets. It sounds like you are are having a lot of fun travelling!
Now I have cat envy! I don’t have a pet either which means I have several distance pets all over the Internets. The top cat in the cats category Lori Kimble’s Pixie, but I think I’d like to “adopt” Luna too… 🙂
You are more than welcome to Internet-adopt Luna!!
Having pets is one good way to teach kids how to be responsible. I am not a cat person but your post made me realize that they too can make great pets and is capable of interacting with the family the same way dogs do.
Thanks Gabby! I think she’s been really great for our kids but I’m sure a dog would too! Win/win;)
Still allergic to cats, but our dog acts more like a cat than a dog. I have noticed the therapeutic effect she has on our kids too. Its very sweet! We have had brief intervals without a dog and we really feel the void! Pets are the best!!
Aw I love it!! And you know we had a dog who acted very much like a cat too;)
We are all about alternative pets here! Mostly cause I am deathly alleric to cats and dogs, but I anted mt kids to know the joy and responsibility of having a pet. We started with what I call “short shelf life” pets…fish, hermit crabs and crayfish. After alot of research we rescued 2 chinchillas and my girls loved them and took great care of them. When one died we got a baby chinchilla from a hoarder but he hated our original chini and they have to be caged seperately. I ordered all their hay and food from a rescue in Tx and it was so fresh and the chinis loved it, but the postage was killer! I finally found a farmer nearby who grows pesticide free hay and a local pet store carries their food. When my son got old enough he wanted a rabbit…so of course we ended up with 2! Our first one we got from friends as a baby and we has her spayed to a tune of $400! Who knew rabbits were exotic animals? We decided she needed a friend so we got a male rabbit from the local shelter. Rabbits are awesome pets! Ours are house rabbits and litter trained. They love to be petted and run around like crazy and jump straight in the air. While not exactly “lap” pets, they will come over and ask to be petted. My son and I love them to death and they get fed the best rabbit food, fresh greens and veggies daily, and quality hay. After we had Grover (our rescue) for a few weeks we noticed his fur was silky and soft. He had only had rabbit pellets before and when we first gave him greens he wasn’t sure what to do with them! Now he hears the fridge open and sits up and begs for the greens…it is so cute! If I had known how much fun bunnies were we would have gotten one much sooner!
I had three bunnies as pets growing up and they were ROTTEN little critters. But that’s probably because we didn’t know how to care for them properly. Your comment totally makes me want to try again! They are super cute! Or maybe I need a chinchilla next… hmmm
Awww, such a touching post.
As the mom/owner of two amazing cats, I know just how important they are as members of the family. What melts my heart is how much my stepson and the cats bonded once they entered each others’ lives. They often just sit in his room watching him while he plays. So cute!!
My boys are on a prescription food from the vet due to one of them having a kidney issue a while back. Even though the food is expensive, I don’t mind because they really are members of the family, so it’s worth it in my mind.