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Giving Thanks
Oct. 8th, 2007 11:36 amWe've had animals in our home and lives for most of the 20 years we've been married. The first two arrived, nine months apart, in the summer of '88 and the spring of '89, and they went on to become the best kitty friends there ever were- for us and for each other.
In 2000, we added a third cat. Tazzer was about a year old then, and the other two never accepted him the way they had each other. Even when dogs started invading their space a year or so later, there was always the schism.
We lost Bozo, then the second-oldest, in the summer of '04, and the next winter, we decided to adopt again, while Esmeralda, our oldest, still had some spunk left in her. We settled on an older pair this time, who'd grown up together and were, we were told, inseparable. That bond never proved to be as strong as advertised, but Biggsy and Michelle definitely loved each other, and once again, Taz was shut out from any true kitty love.
In time, Esmeralda found her way to Rainbow Bridge, and earlier this year, way too young, Biggsy followed her. For the first time this century, we were down to two cats, one who knew the companionship of a fellow feline very well, the other who never had.
It was slow in coming. Michelle was partial to the grownups in the house, while Taz tended to hang out more in Emily's domain. Little by little, though, I'd wake up with both cats on the bed, and by the middle of this summer, we caught the first signs of bonding coming along:
That's Taz giving his sister a good grooming, and her look of rapt contentment as he does so. I picked this pic because it shows off their markings pretty well, even if his well-worn tongue isn't quite as obvious.
Still, this was only a first step- her not hauling off and whipping his ass was an improvement in domestic-feline relations, but over the past two decades we've seen closer.
This past week, though, we hit the breakthrough:
There they are, in full-blown cuddle mode. Once in a blue moon, I'd catch Taz like this with one of the other cats in the wintertime, when they'll do anything for warmth, but it's been abnormally warm here this past week, so that's not the reason. It's also been repeated, on an almost daily basis.
It's taken years, but they've finally found each other. And on this foreign Thanksgiving, that is what I'll put at the top of my Thankful-for list.
In 2000, we added a third cat. Tazzer was about a year old then, and the other two never accepted him the way they had each other. Even when dogs started invading their space a year or so later, there was always the schism.
We lost Bozo, then the second-oldest, in the summer of '04, and the next winter, we decided to adopt again, while Esmeralda, our oldest, still had some spunk left in her. We settled on an older pair this time, who'd grown up together and were, we were told, inseparable. That bond never proved to be as strong as advertised, but Biggsy and Michelle definitely loved each other, and once again, Taz was shut out from any true kitty love.
In time, Esmeralda found her way to Rainbow Bridge, and earlier this year, way too young, Biggsy followed her. For the first time this century, we were down to two cats, one who knew the companionship of a fellow feline very well, the other who never had.
It was slow in coming. Michelle was partial to the grownups in the house, while Taz tended to hang out more in Emily's domain. Little by little, though, I'd wake up with both cats on the bed, and by the middle of this summer, we caught the first signs of bonding coming along:
That's Taz giving his sister a good grooming, and her look of rapt contentment as he does so. I picked this pic because it shows off their markings pretty well, even if his well-worn tongue isn't quite as obvious.
Still, this was only a first step- her not hauling off and whipping his ass was an improvement in domestic-feline relations, but over the past two decades we've seen closer.
This past week, though, we hit the breakthrough:
There they are, in full-blown cuddle mode. Once in a blue moon, I'd catch Taz like this with one of the other cats in the wintertime, when they'll do anything for warmth, but it's been abnormally warm here this past week, so that's not the reason. It's also been repeated, on an almost daily basis.
It's taken years, but they've finally found each other. And on this foreign Thanksgiving, that is what I'll put at the top of my Thankful-for list.