Arnie and Belle...

Belle is a gray beauty!


Arnie, my big boy!


Big round head!


Belle likes to be upside down!

October is National Adopt a Pet Month so I thought I would write more about my experience being an "adoptive" mother to Arnie and Belle. I know I've written about them before but they really are two unique and individual personalities. I thought this time I would compare some of their routine activities and show you just how different they are.

1. Sleeping - Now anyone who has a cat or has had a cat knows that they spend an enormous amount of time sleeping. They're really good at it! Arnie and Belle are no exceptions. I think Arnie has taken his sleeping to a professional level. They each have very distinct ways they like to sleep. Arnie, for example, tends to like "holing up" in covered spaces like the inside of the condo/tower thing we have or the inside of his little tent house. He curls up in there and I won't see him for hours. Belle, on the other hand, loves a box. Any box. She'll squish her way into a box and stay there snoring for a while. Yes, she snores and it's adorable. One then they do share in common is where they like to sleep during the winter months. That would be on top of my legs pinning me to the bed until I lose all circulation. More than once I've awaken startled from a dream that I am being held down in a pool of water by cement blocks only to find the cats are weighing me down in bed!

2. Eating - When Arnie and Belle first came home I was told a mixed diet of both wet and dry food was best so that's what they got. Arnie has been a-okay with that since Day 1. In fact, if he doesn't get his wet food by 5pm each day he makes a real pest of himself until someone gets it for him. At first, Belle loved it too. She would scarf down the wet food like there was no tomorrow. When she first came home she was super skinny and somewhat undernourished so I think she was making up for lost time. Now though, Belle doesn't really eat more than a bit or two of the wet food but, instead, chows on the dry. Sometimes she eat the dry food so fast she will immediately throw it up. I know...sorry...not a pretty visual image but oh well! One thing they do agree on is that there is almost nothing better in this world than Whiskas Temptations Cat Treats. I keep a bag of them in my desk drawer and if I even open it to get a pen they are here at my side waiting. They could probably live on those things if I let them!

3. Affection - Both Arnie and Belle crave affection but in this they are very different. Arnie is a very insistent cat when he wants to be held, which is very, very often. If I have my back to him he'll climb across the couch and over the back of my office chair and up and over my shoulder clinging onto my clothing in the hopes that I'll lean back and let him perch over my shoulder. if I do, he'll rub his big round head into my face and ears and nose and neck until I stop what I'm doing and pet his head. Oh yes, he has a big round head. Occasionally, I call him Charlie Brown because of it. Belle likes affection on her terms. When she wants attention she'll come bounding over in her stumbling way and BAM she's on you. She does this at night sometimes too. Nothing like having a 9 pounds dead weight with claws just PLOP on your chest in one leap from the floor to get your heart racing!

4, Curiosity - All cats have a natural curiosity but in this Arnie and Belle are very dissimilar. Alex called Arnie "Inspector b' Larnie" because no matter what we are doing - cooking dinner, taking a bath, putting on make up, putting together book shelves, typing a blog post - Arnie has to be there, sniffing around, making sure it's all up to par and then we can go on with our day. Belle will stand aside and watch and doesn't really get involved. Which is much appreciated when what we're doing involves doing something big like putting in the window air conditioners. Arnie is also unafraid of most household items where Belle is terrified of the vacuum cleaner. I mean TERRIFIED!! She screams and runs and if you've never heard a cat scream you haven't lived. It's blood curdling.

5. Playtime - Both cats love to play and, by far, their favorite plaything in this house is Alex. I often protest when, late at night, the three of them start a romping game of chasing each other into the kitchen and back again. Alex will take off with the cats chasing him and then he'll turn around and they'll run into the other room and hide around a corner or a chair until he comes running in and then they're all off running again. It's actually pretty funny and cute to see. We've purchased a thousand little cat mouse toys which are always a hit until Arnie hides them all over the house and we don't see them again for months. We've had other toys too. Toys that hang from door knobs or are attached to a stick. Those last for a while and are popular until Belle chews the mousy thing or the ball thing off the end and then all that's left is a stick or a thing on the door knob. The mousy thing or ball then get hidden with all the other mousy toys. I swear I have no idea where they go. One day, when we move our couch there will be a million mouse march going on under there, I'm sure.

The whole point of this post is to tell you about my cats and how much they have enriched our lives. When you have a pet, cat or dog, you finally understand what true, unconditional love means. There's always someone waiting at the door when you come home that's really happy to see you and they don't care what you look like, who you are, how much money you make or if you really screwed something up at work that day. They'll always listen and commiserate with you when you need a friendly ear. And they will always, ALWAYS, make you smile. So many dogs and cats are out there right now that need a home. Please consider adopting and, if possible, adopt an older animal. They have so much to give you and they're just waiting for you!