Willy, just waking up.
For those of you not familiar, we are a household that enjoys the company of pets in the way of cats, now that our two Labrador Retrievers have passed away.
All of our cats were rescues in one form or another, the latest being our almost ten-month-old kitten, Willy. He was spotted last June from one of our bedroom windows that looks out over our neighbours’ garden; all alone, he was a tiny thing (four weeks old) struggling to clamber over large cement blocks in the heat and humidity of a Niagara summer.
About fifteen minutes after that first sighting we managed to find him in amongst tall grass – it’s astonishing how agile even four-week-old kittens can be when they don’t want to be found.
While I won’t go into the whole ordeal here, as I’m sure I’ve written about it before, Willy is the most playful cat we have ever owned and, while he sometimes annoys his siblings, two of them usually end up playing with him, one of those practically all the time. She’s a feisty, three-year-old Calico (Jinx) and they’ve become the best of friends. In other words, she can keep up with him and they have regular races throughout the house.
I’ve added the photo of Willy here for you to see how he’s progressed from a waif-like little creature to the Boy Wonder (I know, I know, but anyone with pets end up giving them nicknames or variations on their names…). He likes to sleep on his back sometimes, with his hind legs up against the back of the couch. Though, having said that, he’s fast asleep behind me, curled up on the top of the cushions on another couch here in the living room, near the window.
My friend, Chris, and I were discussing animals during lunch this week. She and her husband are very involved in animal rescue and welfare. We both can’t imagine a home without at least one pet, because the joy that these cats and dogs bring is indescribable. And it’s true what is often said: if you’re in a bad mood, they tend to calm you down, but more importantly, they have an uncanny ability to put life into perspective. If you’re feeling down and blah, they have a way of cheering you up.
One of my best friends just adopted another cat from the Lincoln County Humane Society’s successful Adopt-a-Thon last weekend. I went to visit her yesterday and was amazed at how calm this less-than-one-year-old cat is, even being adopted into a family where there are two other cats. One can tell at a glance that there won’t be any issues. All three cats are content, as is their owner.
If you are not the sort of person who wants to share your home with pets, please suggest to those who do that they consider adopting an animal from a rescue site or animal shelter, instead of buying from breeders. There are far too many unwanted animals out there who already need homes.
