Anyone who knows me knows that there are two true loves in my life: my husband and my cats. After over 12 years together, there are indeed times I would be hard pressed to tell you which one is THE true love in my life.

Just kidding! Of course Chris is my One True Love! The cats, however, are a close second. We’ve never, ever given a first thought, much less a second one, to having children so they are the closest thing we would ever have to the pitter patter of little feet running around our household.

Not long after we first got together, we were sitting in the living room one evening and there was a knock on the door. One of the old ladies that Chris hung out with at the mailboxes asked him to step out with her. About 10 minutes later he came back in the door with a cat carrier in his hand saying “can we?” with the most gorgeous little lady I’d ever seen in my life. Little Misty was a Ragdoll, a breed famed for it’s beauty and gentle temperament, and her owner (a 93 year old woman) had just had a stroke, so the family was going to place her in a home and send Misty to the pound. We really had no choice -- and never once regretted our decision.

We didn’t know it at the time, but Misty was 17 years old when we got her. Apparently, she didn’t know it either! She was as spry and active as a kitten. She was also one of the most loving and cuddly cats I’ve ever had, as she quickly became my cat. True to her Ragdoll heritage, she loved to be held, especially flipped over on her back with her belly rubbed, purring away with her motor going and making “happy feet”, all the while drooling like crazy. When she wasn’t sleeping on me, she was pulling her “baby seal” impersonation or finding an abandoned box to squeeze into.

Misty was also a fighter. When she was 23, she started having trouble with her kidneys and high blood pressure, which caused her to go blind, but that never stopped her! She took her pills ever day like a champ, she got around the house just fine, she even took to the new kitten (see below) without a fuss. Sadly, we had to make one of the hardest decisions of our lives when her kidneys shut down when she was 25 years old. So Misty, one of the True Loves of my life, died at the grand age of 25 years old, in her favorite position -- lying on her back with her head cradled in my elbow having her belly rubbed, knowing that she was loved. We know that she is waiting for us now across the Rainbow Bridge.

A couple of years after we got Misty a neighbor of ours had a litter of kittens. Yes, she broke the cardinal rule of pet ownership -- she didn’t get her cat spayed. We thought that perhaps Misty might be lonely, so we decided to go ahead and adopt one of the kittens and expand our family, so we got Delenn. (Bonus points of you know where the name is from without looking it up on Google!). Sadly, the idea of having a companion for Misty never quite worked out -- the two never really got along, so the only thing Delenn ever got from Misty was hissing, but I gained another True Love!

Now if anyone ever tries to tell you that animals don’t have individual personalities, you send them right over to me and I’ll be more than happy to correct their misconceptions! Delenn could not be more different from Misty in attitude, temper and overall personality. Part of that, we think, is because of the environment of the household where she was raised before we got her -- there was a little boy in the home who used to pick up the kittens in a not-so-gentle manner and drag them around the place, and as a result she still to this day does not like to be picked up. She is curious, always poking into things, but very skittish.

She also has her playful side. For example, we buy these little, inexpensive colored catnip mice from the store. She absolutely loves these things, and will spend hours grabbing them in her mouth, tossing them up in the air and chasing after them. We play “laser dot” with her, but she resists doing it because it’s beneath her dignity to chase after that little red dot (don’t you know!) until she just can’t resist the urge any longer, then runs like a bat out of hell across the room after it.

There was only one problem when we got Delenn. Since Misty was clearly MY cat, we hoped that Delenn would identify with Chris so we would each “have” a cat. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Delenn ALSO attached to me, which led to some interesting times when both of them decided that they wanted my lap at the same time. Let’s not even think about the fights at bed time when they argued over who got what part of my legs to sleep on! Whew! On the bright side, about 9 months before Misty’s death, the two of them finally reconciled, or at least came to a truce. It took nearly 5 years to happen, but for that last 9 months we actually had some moments where we found the two of them curled up together sleeping. It literally brought tears to my eyes the first time I saw it, it was so incredibly heartwarming.

Knowing that Misty’s end was coming soon, we decided in August of 2006 that we wanted to get another cat to be a companion for Delenn (and us) so she wouldn’t be left alone after Misty died. After all, Delenn had never been completely alone, going from her litter mates to living with us and Misty. So we visited the SPCA LA adoption center in the Valley one weekend “just to look” (ha ha) and there was this little black kitten in the cage with his sisters, sitting in the litter box doing his best to look lonely and pathetic. When we stopped at the cage, he stuck his little paw up and made the teensiest little “meow” sound and gave us a pitiful “I’m so cute” look. Of course we had to check him out and hold him! I gave him the “roll on your back in my arm and rub the belly” test -- and he fell asleep while purring. Instant love! Needless to say, we left the store with him, and Cole aka CoCo became the newest member of our family.

Cole was just what the Doctor ordered! First, Cole is Chris’ cat! Yes, he loves me and I love him -- no question about that. But when it comes down to it, Chris is Cole’s “favorite Daddy”, which is absolutely perfect. Honestly, I think he was starting to get a bit of a complex about the whole situation. Second, Cole and Delenn get along so well you would think that she was his mother. It tickles my heart to watch the two of them together, even now. Whether they are giving each other baths, running around the house playing tag, or curled up together taking a nap, these two cats were made for each other. We couldn’t have asked for a better pairing.

Cole himself is quite a character! First of all, he is a BIG cat! Delenn is rather petite, weighing in around 9-10 pounds, but Cole comes in about 13-15 pounds depending on the scale! I know that’s not record breaking or anything, but side-by-side with Delenn, he’s big. When he’s walking across your head -- or stomach -- at 2 o’clock in the morning he’s humongous! Second, for only having been around her for about 3 months, he somehow seems to have picked up a number of personality traits from Misty, to the point where we joke about him being possessed by her ghost sometimes. He acts like her, he imitates her “baby seal” impersonation, all the little things that she used to do -- it’s uncanny!

The strangest thing of all about Cole? He thinks he’s a dog! No kidding -- the cat plays fetch! We didn’t teach him, at least as far as we can remember. One day he was playing with one of those plastic rings that they use to seal milk jugs and we took it away from him, then tossed it over to the trash can. Of course we missed (athletically skilled, we aren’t) and he went over and picked it up in his mouth, brought it back to us, then sat there waiting for us. So we said “what the heck”, threw it again, he chased after it and brought it back. Thus, the game of “play fetch” with the cat was born! Now we have a side table drawer full of “rings” and all we have to do is put a hand anywhere near that drawer and he’s immediately ready to play. One of these days I’m going to get the video camera out and we’re going to upload a video of him playing, just to prove to people that he really does “play fetch”.

So that’s our happy family now, a household of True Love: Bob, Chris, Delenn and CoCo. The bed gets a bit crowded at night sometimes, but there is no lack of love, cuddles, purrs or catnip!

p.s. If you’d like to see more pictures of the Furry Threesome, check out the “Cats” set on my Flickr Photostream or visit their website at http://www.bobandchrispets.com.