just cats

Pets.

Tobe was our first cat.  We had him fixed and his front claws removed when he was 4 months old.  He was supposed to be a strictly indoors cat.  We got him while we were living in our first apartment in Ogden in the Summer of 2001.  He was our first baby as a married couple.

Now, I didn't particularly like cats.  I wanted a dog.

Aaron hates dogs.

Aaron is usually pretty laid back about most things.  But the things he is not laid back about don't ever change and you can tell he REALLY won't ever come around.  I realized, "We better go with a cat."

We moved into our 2nd apartment a few months later.  This was a 2-bedroom, it did have a yard, but we lived on a very busy street in Ogden.  Tobe couldn't be let loose to roam at 815 N. Washington. I did buy him a leash.  Did you know, cats refuse to be walked?

When Tobe was 2 years old, we moved into my parents basement.  He was grumpy.  The only people in the house who like him were Aaron and I (i.e. not my mom, not my dad, and definitely, not Toni).

At a little over 3 years old, we moved into Lexington Hills.  He was still grumpy.  About a year later, we let him go outside for the first time (at night).  It was scary. But, he was still there in the morning and he was HAPPY!

I've been thinking a lot about Tobe and cats lately.  The two cats we have now do A LOT that Tobe NEVER did (or at least, rarely).  We had Tobe for 13 & a half years.  We are now on our 3rd and 4th cats in the 15 1/2 years since we first became pet owners.  Strange to have gone almost 14 years with only one cat, to having had 4 cats in less than 2 years.

Enter Kitty #2 & #3: Sirius Black and Severus Snape. The Grim Brothers.

We didn't declaw them because we knew they'd want to go outside.

Dream kittens, really. Rarely meowed. Kept each other company.  However, they did scavenge for food the way Tobe never did.

We only had Severus for a year. He was the cat I always wanted (i.e. blue coat, purred like a diesel, gentle, laid back) with one exception: he drooled (just like Tobe).  But then, one day he never came home.

Sirius' behavior began changing about 1 1/2 months after Severus disappeared.  He was attention starved, which before he never really cared if we pet him. He was a rascal. Sev was the lover. I believe Sirius truly missed his brother & he was needing a new companion.

Enter Snape (who was named that by the previous people).  He was born a week after Sev disappeared. He was 5 weeks 6 days old when we got him.  He looked like a fuzzy bear cub.

Sirius hated him.

Well, at first.

Now, they scavenge for food together. Hop on the counters. Snape sleeps in the sink. Poops in the bath tub, the boys closet, under the piano, in the plants....well, we've tried to put a stop to all pooping except in the litter box.

the litter box

This has been a whole new can of worms.  It was never an issue with Tobe. Rarely stunk.  Took at least a month before it did stink. Aaron did the litter box.  For 13 1/2 years.

Enter the realm of two cats.

It stinks.

most of the time

It has been an on-going problem.  It has become my new mystery to solve.  Like getting the kids to do chores.

A chore program/chart is created, works for 2 weeks and then, we must create a new chart/program.

Ever evolving.

Behavior programs and litter boxes.