Abby was my childhood cat. She was totally great, but she died in my arms in the spring of my senior year. I worked at the vet clinic then, and that summer I saw a flyer promoting this 'two kitties for one' deal at the Humane Society. Dad was against getting a cat ("The dog is still too young.") but I felt that it was something I needed to do. So, I trotted down there one day to have a look.
There are always a ton of kittens at HS, but I didn't really want that. I've never had a kitten, but I know that they're a lot of work. I didn't want an older cat either, which is bad of me, but I wanted my pet to have some years left. I looked around and saw two cats in a lower level cage. When I bent down, the tabbyish cat walked over to me. She had huge, glowing, expressive eyes that told me she was sociable. I asked to have a closer look, but I was sold. I'm very particular about how I spend my money. I don't like to make impulsive purchases but I knew that these were my cats. I just knew.
The adoption lady told me they had been found in the desert together. They were both 9 months old, but not related. I still wonder what happened to them, how they met each other. I guess that's they're little secret. Anyways, I picked them up a day later, after they had been spayed, and took them home.
Beatrice fit in right away. Theta hid under the bed for a week. Then one day, she came out from under there and started chewing on my ear. It's been a battle to stop her every since.
Because dad was all freaked out about the dog thing, I decided not to let them out of my room, at least not for a little while. I think that it was a really good choice. It allowed my cats and me to really bond, as corny as that sounds. They knew me before they ever had to deal with meeting my family.
Well, Dad was still pretty bent out of shape. But one day he laughed untill he cried when he saw Theta running down the hall on three legs, a sock in her mouth, one paw holding the sock up. He and Beatrice are best buds now, even though I don't like him feeding her from the table.
Beatrice is a 'talker,' and if you don't know cats, it won't make sense to you. She's a little skittish, but she is soooo sweet. She goes nuts when I brush her and she'll cuddle up to me during the winter when my room gets cold. I honestly believe that she watched over Theta when they were in the desert. Beatrice seems like a hunter. She's not big on chasing after string, but she's great at catching crickets.
Theta, well, I have no idea what goes on in her head. She is always bringing me things like yarn, bags of screws, pieces of my dad's train set and one time, a shirt out of my dirty clothes hamper. She's not like Beatrice. Theta is very picky about when she wants attention, but when she's in the mood, there's no pushing her away. She starts bugging me when my alarm goes off because she knows that means food is coming soon. Ahh, routine.
I love my little babies. When I worked at the kennel, obsessive pet owners always drove me nuts. Now I can join ranks with the best of them. I never thought that my cats would bring me as much joy as they have, so I'm thankful for every minute I have with them. Except when I'm trying to sleep.
