Meet the Characters, Part I

Lucy* is a tabby who has been gata numero uno for about eight years. She owns the place and she knows it. No one can enter her casa without her voicing her opinion. She once hissed at my sleeping niece. Yes, Lucy, sleeping babies are as threatening as it gets!

Lucy has a foot fetish. Seriously. It is my fault actually. I have created a monster who prefers to be petted with feet. Instead of leaning over to pet her, I often pause when walking by and give her a quick pat with my foot. Now everywhere a foot is, there she is below it, begging for attention. Even in the bathroom. Cats do not believe in privacy. Lucy does not like to be around groups of people, but we once had four people petting her with their feet simultaneously. It was odd seeing my easily overstimulated cat enjoying attention from so many people all at once.

Some friends call her Lucifer. I am sure it is just a coincidence that the devil also shares that name.

Sasha* joined the clan about two and a half years after Lucy. I got her in hopes that Lucy would stop biting me if she had a feline companion to play with. Thanks for taking one for the team, Sasha! It actually helped a lot to tame down Lucifer.

Sasha is a Himalayan and she is cross-eyed. The vet pointed it out to me, as it was not something I had picked up on. We cannot all be blessed with brilliant powers of observation. She said it is quite common in this bread of cats. It is quite evident in photos (see post 1), as she bears a resemblance to Dopey, the dwarf. She has the sweetest temperament and is a great companion.

One of Latino's complaints about Sasha is her persistent, ah, talking. She meows the majority of the time. She is like one of those people who has to fill awkward silences with the sound of their own voice. Latino finds in annoying. I find it endearing...most of the time. 3 am is not one of those times. Her voice sometimes gets hoarse from overuse. She also enjoys feet on occasion. (Refer to video of Latino petting both cats with his feet. Who, other than a cat loving person, would do that?)

*The cats' names have NOT been changed to protect their identity.

Who should read this blog (you)

Cat lovers: You know you cannot get enough of cats. No need to pretend. We are all family here.

Cat haters: Though it is difficult to understand, I realize there are some of you out there. You will be amused by Latino's antics and plans for eliminating the cats from his life.*

*Cat lovers can rest assured that no cats were harmed during the writing of this blog.

Cat lovers who pretend they are not: You know who you are. It is such a sad state of affairs that some people feel they are not able to love cats freely. They think others will judge them and/or question their sanity (caused by the "crazy cat lady" stigma). Since when did loving cats and having a couple little feline friends become synonymous with crazy? Indeed, I have heard stories of a select few individuals collecting and housing more than their fair share of cuddly creatures, but that should not give the rest of us such a bad rap. When is the last time you told someone you were going to get another dog and they looked at you like you just hopped the crazy train? That does not happen, does it? There is no "crazy dog lady" expression that I am aware of.

I by no means am able to claim exemption from craziness, but my sanity level is not affiliated with cats. I believe there are plenty of well adjusted individuals who love cats as well. Cut us all a break.

My advice for people categorized as cat lovers who pretend they are not is this: Embrace your inner cat lover! Let's outnumber those who poke fun and make them feel like we have something special they do not!

Introduction

I, Gringa, have two cats. They have been a permanent fixture in my home for several years. All three of us were happily situated with the stability of our lives for quite some time. I, and the cats (who are well known for being creatures of habit), feared change to a certain extent. Apart from our happy household, I also wished for a male companion of the human variety. I had many qualifications for said male, and among them was a desire for him to share my enjoyment of my feline friends.

We cannot have everything we want.

Meet Latino. He shared his distaste for cats upon one of our initial meetings.

I promptly disqualified him.

Yet we continued to get to know each other as friends and dancing partners. A mutual attraction developed over a matter of a couple of years. Before meeting the cats he said he was allergic. From my personal experience, I am aware that allergies cause some kind of reaction: sneezing, runny nose, itchy eyes, etc. When Latino met them he was asymptomatic. He thought maybe my cats were hypoallergenic. I thought that was interesting being that I have never seen a Himalayan (with hair nearly as long as mine) on any hypoallergenic list. I concluded it was his psychological manifestation to avoid being around cats. He complained about them plenty but was insistent enough that he wanted to be with me. Two years later, we are married.

He knew what he was getting into. Love me, love my cats. Simple as that.

We are still working on this harmonious relationship.

One of my goals in this collection of writings is to bring forth enough evidence to prove to Latino that he does, in fact, love the cats. I am certain the evidence is there; he just needs it to be spelled out for him.