The Perfect Pet

We've tried pets before, and they just haven't been that great.  We had a rabbit named hopscotch who was huge and fun to look at, but he hated to be petted or held.  We had to find a new home for him when we moved from New York to Utah. 

We had a kitty named Socks who turned up missing a couple of weeks after we got him.  He was replaced by Zoe.  She was a pretty good cat, but never very cuddly.  She had a couple of litters of kittens, which was very fun.  After that, she would totally ignore us in the summer (except for wanting to be put to bed in her little room in the garage every night), and become a little more friendly and cuddly in the winter when she liked to come inside and lounge on the kitchen chairs.  She was never allowed anywhere else in the house unless someone was holding her because I have a slight allergy, and I didn't want cat hair everywhere.  She was very low-maintenance, which was great.  When we moved last summer, we discovered that she had peed on a large number of our possesions in the garage.  Disgusting.  When I put her in a box to bring her up to the new house (we were still a few days shy of moving in), she was totally mad at me.  She took one look at me and ran across the street.  I came back to check on her the next day and she was gone.  Dallin saw her once a few months later, but we have never seen her again. 

And we tried a little lap-dog for 6 months.  WAY too much work.  By the time we found a new home for her, her stomach was so sensitive that I had to make her dog food.  She would frequently vomit, so we had to keep her leashed to the kitchen table to protect the carpet.  Cutting her hair was either very expensive or very difficult and time consuming.  The only person she wanted attention from was me.  So when she started biting Daisy, I was done.  And I was so glad the following week that she was gone because my morning sickness with Sarajoy's pregnancy started. 

So it was a pretty big decision to get a kitten.  We weren't sure we wanted to do the cat thing after the pee incident.  But when I saw how wonderfully cuddly and socialized my friend's kittens were, we started begging Dallin to let us get one.  It took him over a week to agree, but I don't think any of us have regretted it.  Mikey is the perfect pet.  He was already used to being outside at night, so we don't have to worry about him peeing on stuff.  We let him in to play during the day.  The fact that we have very little carpet in this house makes me worry less about the hair thing.  He is super cuddly and tolerant of even our littles cat lovers.   The day after we got him, I went downstairs to find the girls playing house in the play kitchen.  Guess who was curled up asleep in the baby doll rocker?  So cute.  He also tolerates stroller rides. Ruby is in charge of his care, and she has done a wonderful job of keeping him fed and watered and played with and keeps the litter box clean. 

Sarajoy had so much fun with him yesterday, that I had to take some pictures.  She spent about 20 minutes dragging him around the floor on a towel.  He seemed to enjoy it as he was fast asleep.  Then she curled up with him for a rest.  She'd pick him up and carry him over to his food bowl for snacks now and then. 

 This was today, as soon as we walked in the door from church, she found her "neow"

 This was just too funny.  I opened the garage door to call her in for dinner and saw this! 

 This is the towel that she took him for rides around the kitchen on.  She's all about dressing herself these days.  She mostly just wants to pull underpants on over her diaper. 

So nice to have a pet that fits in around here!