The Meow Mix

Before we get too far along, I'd better do the run down on the cats. As I said before, we have four. Yes, that is a lot. Yes, we know that. No, we're not "crazy cat people".

Left to right: Jesse James, Ned Kelly, Skippyjon Jones, Daniel Boone

We started out innocently enough...

I had planned to get a cat my junior year of college and found an apartment that would allow it. But as it turned out, the management was less than stellar* there and they decided to change the terms of the lease after we had signed. Legal? No. Could we still get evicted because we were college students in a college town? Yes. So, no cat for me.

I finally got the opportunity in the summer before my 5th year** and I jumped on it. I always wanted two kittens to grow up together (and be absolutely adorable together) so I went for it. Long story short, I ended up with two male kittens sometime in July 2009, Jesse James and Ned Kelly. And yes, they are both named after violent outlaws.

AV also was looking for a kitten, but he was a little more planned out than my process of "that one is furry and is, as far as I can tell, not going to murder me immediately". He grew up hearing stories about Siamese cats and was set on having one. He found one on PetFinder and when we went to go look, fell totally in love. So Skippyjon Jones*** came home too.

The Three Bandits grew up together while we were at school but were separated when I graduated two semesters ahead of AV. They were finally reunited for good when AV and I moved up to Michigan together.

You would think three cats crashing about the house would be enough, but clearly we're suckers for punishment.

It kills me that there are so many animals in shelters and rescues and I wanted to make a difference by adopting an adult cat as adult animals are difficult to place. AV and I had talked more than once about adopting an adult cat somewhere in the foggy future. But as fate would have it, on a routine grocery shopping trip we found Daniel Boone.

Dannie looked enormous in his crate next to the other cats, and I was drawn to him. It turned out that he was a polydactyl (something AV always wanted). They told us he was friendly and a "lap kitty" (something I was dying to have). So he came home with us. We later found out that he is also a munchkin, so while his body is the same size as Jesse's, he stands about an inch shorter.

It took a while, but now all four get along ridiculously well and I routinely wake up in the middle of the night sandwiched between at least two of them. Even through the cat hair and litter box changings, I really couldn't be happier with our choices.

Cheers,
Red

*Totally shady
** yes, it took me four and a half years to graduate
*** named for the wild kitty boy in the books by Judy Schachner