Believe me, I know, because somehow I've managed it. As of last month, we have 4 cats. Despite Brian saying that we were maxed out at two the summer that we got our own house and were no longer accountable to a landlord for our pet situation. Mind, our last landlord let me keep 2 chickens in the backyard, so I'm certainly not complaining.
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| Gratuitous chickens |
So theoretically we were done with acquiring cats. Until there was an adorable stray kitten (I say adorable, most people would describe it as hell-cat, because he certainly wasn't tame) and I wanted, nay, NEEDED, to rescue him. And that is how Bellatrix became cat number 3. And then Brian said that we were definitely done, and that I couldn't have more cats until we had acreage. And a barn for them to live in. But he warmed up to Bella quickly, because we'd been having a little trouble with mice until we took him in. The biggest advantage of taking in a stray is that they have to learn to hunt, or they starve. Our mouse problem stopped within a week, and Brian accepted him as a contributing member of the family.
Now, I knew Brian didn't want any more cats. And I was pretty sure that I was good with that. Part of the reason that Bella got to stay was that he and Romi got along really well, and Tink (Brian's cat), hated everyone (including Romi), but him. Romi wanted and needed a friend. And things went well, until Bella caught up to Romi in size and still wanted to play ferociously. Romi is a great big fatty and loves nothing more than laziness. So Bella wasn't getting as much play as he wanted or needed.
And then I saw a sign that said "free kittens" the week after my birthday. I convinced Brian that we should just go look at them. He knew the look in my eye,
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| Kitten is cute. Want her, friend? |
and said that we were not getting another cat. But he knew that if he let me look, we would probably come home with one. And he took me to look. And we came home with a kitten. The first couple days the other cats were rather displeased with their pets for having brought another master into their house. They didn't like sharing, you see. So I told Brian that if he wanted to we could take the kitten back. I had made sure that they had a return policy if it was needed for any reason. And Brian tried. They weren't home. So he asked one of our friends who adores cats if he wanted the adorable little girl. Our friend's spouse said no. So Brian tried again to take the kitten back. Still not home.
At this point, we were having to leave town the next day to visit friends. So I gave the kitten and Bella baths so that they would smell relatively the same, Brian tried once more to return the kitten, to no avail, and we locked the kitten (who Brian refused to let us give a name, as once you name it you can't get rid of it) into the children's bathroom for while we were gone. Mostly because I didn't want to come home to kitten shredded all over the house. Which probably wouldn't actually happen. Probably. And we left for two and a half days.
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| Seriously woman, we were sleeping! |
When we got back, I let the kitten out of the bathroom. And she and Bella started acting as though they had always been best friends. They had played pawsies under the door the entire time we were gone, it seemed. Bella was mad at me for leaving him for a few days, but he liked the new pet that I had gotten him, so the three days of him hissing at me for leaving were worth it.
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| Jealous Tink |
And today, I triumphed. Brian has accepted the kitten. Well, he accepted her a while ago. We gave her a name when we got back from vacation. She's now officially Lady Sif. From Thor. Because we're nerds. But today, it was known as true that Brian was glad we had her. Because Bella needed another playmate, and Romi needed someone else to groom.
And Tink still hates everyone.
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