For 10 years we had a dog. A wonderful, big, loyal, lovable dog named Duke. If you knew him, just the thought of him brings a smile to your face I bet.
Well, Duke liked to chase (and try to taste) cats. We knew this from the day we picked him up from the Humane Society. Over the course of ten years the talk of trying to get a cat came and went. Rebecka expressed her desire for a cat often. She knew we couldn’t have one with Duke, yet still yearned for one.
Sadly this past summer we said goodbye to our old man Duke. It was a hard time for our family. We mourned his loss. The house seemed emptier. We thought we wouldn’t be ready for another pet until after we moved from San Diego.
In late September Rebecka started asking for a cat again. Marc also expressed he might be ready for a cat to join our family. He had them as a child and wanted Rebecka to experience the joy of a cat. For years we said that if we got another pet we would most likely get two. Two pets could keep each other company. Duke appeared lonely at times and it broke our heart.
I wasn’t ready for the responsibility of having another pet just yet. Plus with our new “plan” a pet didn’t sound like a great idea. A little research showed I was wrong and that cats are just as common as dogs for companions on RV travels. Some people even teach their cats to walk on leashes, but you have better luck with that if you train them as kittens. I decided to “think about it”, but I told Marc I was still leaning towards us not being ready.
A week later a coworker told me about three kittens her family found. The kitten’s mother had left them. These three kittens were starving and alone. My coworker could only take one. This left her two kittens to find homes for. When I told Marc, he was all for it, but left the decision up to me. I felt horrible at the thought of these two orphaned kittens being alone. I knew for years Rebecka wanted a cat. I felt a little selfish not being 100% on board.
I decided the timing of these orphans was a direct sign from a higher power. Just a week ago we were discussing possibly being pet owners again. Then before I knew it, these kittens needed us. Blam, in your face. It was impossible for me to deny that these kittens were meant to be in our life.
My coworker brought the kittens over the next day after work. We choose to surprise Rebecka, she had no idea.
She decided on “Pearl” and “Hunter”.
Their first night with us, Pearl curled herself up and looked like a pearl in a clam shell. Hunter appeared to always be looking for something.
They are kittens and they are cute! (in my humble opinion) We have weaned them off milk. I look forward to when they make less of a mess when they eat though. We have litter box trained them. I watched a movie once where a cat was trained to use the toilet. I might need to research that. They do not sleep all night. I am a light sleeper and I can hear them playing and wrestling at the wee hours. The other night they both learned to climb up onto our bed. This made for a tough night of sleep for me, as they had trouble with “personal space”.
They also thought I was a jungle gym at 3 am. Marc assures me that as they get a little older all these things will get better. Here’s hoping, because this lady needs some good sleep. Read about their first time in the trailer here. {link to Pala Casino post)
For those of you who like kittens, I have good news. You will be seeing more of them in photos and videos. They love to play and Rebecka loves to record them. For those of you who don’t, I apologize, they will be posted anyway.
We left the kittens with my coworker on our Disney trip. That ended up being a great decision as our Disney trip had some unexpected events. (More on that in my next post. Link here)
In the meantime, here are more photos and videos of Hunter and Pearl. Enjoy!
