What Is Up With This World?

My dad told me a long time ago that you have one good pet in your lifetime and that my luck had already run out in that area. I believed that until I got Shiloh, a beautiful Calico who was a loyal companion for many years. I lost Shiloh in what I will only refer to as "The Burger King Incident". Just don't ask - you're better off not knowing because if you knew, then I'd have to . . . well, you know the rest.

I figured he would have to be somewhat right, but I was willing to give it another chance. While visiting my mom in the hospital back in August and preparing to leave to go spend the weekend with my dad at their home, he informed me that one of the "barnyard cats" had a litter on May 22nd and that there was one in particular that he wanted to insure had a good life. At that point, he was gone so much staying with my mom in the hospital and running errands, etc., that he was not willing to raise the kitten himself. He wanted me to adopt it. He attempted to bargain with me and I fought it with every fiber of my being. I used every excuse in the book because we actually had been looking for a puppy - not a kitten. He made an agreement with me that if the kitten was not friendly with me when we returned to his home, that he would no longer try to guilt me into taking her.

Well, my plans went awry. We drove up and the kitten immediately ran across the front porch to my dad. Then of course, she ran to me and let me play with her. You know the rest of the story, but just in case you were wondering, I did bring "her" back with me. I got her home and the first thing we did was give the little fleabag a bath. 103 scratches later, I towel dried her and gave her the first of many flea treatments. I remember Mark saying, "That's a boring cat. She doesn't do anything except look at you."

Famous last words, those were, but before I continue the story, let's move ahead about 2 weeks to the point in time where we learned the rapidly growing kitten was not a "she", but a "he." That was funny in and of itself, but what was really funny was how "he" came alive once he was recognized as being male. Miko is his name, but we have a lot of nicknames for him, the main one being Mikosanostra. That's kind of like La Cosa Nostra - the mafia. We figured since he's bad like the mob, he deserves such a name.

Let me just say that not only has he come alive, but he is good for endless hours of entertainment. I kept coming home finding all of the lower kitchen cabinets open. I figured someone else had been doing it, but finally caught Miko in the act, swinging on them. He's taken the chair at our computer desk - that's officially his chair; he just lets us use it. What's really funny is that he knows when one of us heads for it and he races us to it. You guessed it - the Mikosanostra wins that race. He follows us around like a puppy, he chatters like a little squirrel (still haven't figured out what that's about, but it's cute). He is just a doll.

At any rate, the point of this post is to let you know what a joy pets can bring to your lives. He is truly a member of our family - a very active, talented, hilarious member - but a member nonetheless. We love our Miko!