Dogs and Cats

 

There are basically two kinds of people:  those who love animals and those who do not.  Some might say there is a third type of person one who neither likes nor dislikes animals.

My closeness to animals started at an early age when our parents brought a puppy into our home for my sister and me; a dachshund who we named Rebel.  Rebel lived to be twenty-two years old and finally had to be put down due to health complications.  That task of taking Rebel to the Vet for that to happen fell on the shoulders of our father who said he would never have another animal in his house after that.  He was true to his word.

My love of animals has shifted from dogs to cats although, I would had never imagined I would have ever changed.  It happened when I moved to TN and met this woman years after my divorce who had cats.

Cats are easier to take care of than dogs as they do not have to be house-broken or walked.  You just create a litter box and even the smallest kitten knows what to do.

Cats can be both independent as well as needy and can be friendly as well as standoffish.  Probably this is the reason why it is difficult to have dog owners like cats, since dogs are friendly all the time and never want to be alone.

Currently, my wife and I have three cats who are 13/14 years old and will only be around for a few more years.  They are like our children.  We have all sorts of cat trees for them to play on and right now they sleep on the bed in our spare bedroom for guests.  Our cats get cold in the winter, so we have 3 heating pads under their blankets to keep them warm.

We moved to a smaller house two years ago but in that other house, we had built them a screened in area outside the basement.  They could get to that area anytime they wanted through a swinging cat door.  They had several areas out there, shelves that we had built, where they could lay out and sun themselves.

These will be our last animals, and I cannot imagine my life would have been like after 1990 without cats in it.