Conor had been asking for a pet for years. Last March we finally decided we were ready for that responsibility. The Saturday of the city-sponsored Easter egg hunt rolled around and we found ourselves and eight freshly-hunted plastic eggs walking from the egg hunt toward the animal shelter.
Oh my goodness!
The puppies – big ones, small ones, loud ones, fluffy ones – were all energetic, wagging their tails and checking us out like we were checking them out. Then we went into the cat room where we found two kitties – one that wanted to be held and petted, one that wanted to be left alone. The friendly animal shelter worker answered our questions about the dogs and cats and then asked if we wanted to see the new kittens. Conor’s face lit up like Christmas morning!
She took us through the office to a small room with a cat kennel which held several tiny balls of fur and a big mama cat. We learned that this litter of kittens had been left outside the animal shelter when they were only a few days old. The mama cat that was nursing them was not their mama, but was fulfilling the role of surrogate mama beautifully. We also learned that these babies would be ready for adoption in a few short weeks and plans were made.
Two weeks later we became the proud “fur”ever family to two precious kittens – Rocket and Jet. We quickly learned that we knew very little about cats. Did you know that cats sleep 16 to 18 hours a day and exactly zero hours at night? Did you know that cats can love a flavor of food one day and literally sniff it and walk away in disgust the next day? Did you know that cats (at least our cats) don’t like closed doors?
We thought we were getting precious kittens that would lie in our laps and sleep and let us love on them. I think we got barn cats instead. Rambunctious, lizard-hunting, frog-killing, wall-climbing, scratch-up-everything, stay-out-til-3am kittens. But, the look on Conor’s face when he hugs them tight and tells them how much he loves them and means it, makes it all worth it. Those kitties love Conor. They follow him around and watch him play video games (and watch him watch other kids play video games on YouTube). He throws them over his shoulder and totes them around and they are just fine with it. They look at me and Wade like they might claw our eyes out even though we are the ones who feed them. And, we are okay with those looks because Rocket and Jet make Conor so happy. That’s really all it has ever been about anyway. Now, let me see if I can find the right tuna to feed these animals.
Dear friends who are considering adopting a pet,
Do It!!
Sincerely,
C Bass
Sincerely, C Bass 
Those are two cute, wild kitties!
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Yes, they are! ❤
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