Dearest Reader, I realize I have blogged about my pets
before. I blog about them because they
are a big part of my life. My pets have
become a bigger part of my life since I’ve been ill. I have jokingly made them all part of the
Chrysalis Jewelry staff (read here
). They have such unique and wonderful personalities that that particular blog
was a lot of fun to do.
Last night, as I suffered another sleepless night, my friend
Gus was keeping me company. Gus has
always been an interesting cat, so I decided to do a blog about him (aren’t y’all
so lucky!). Gus came from my husband’s
parents’ farm in Missouri. His brother
Holstein (Gus’s full name is Angus – Aaron’s parents have cattle and the bovine
names seemed apt) has quite the personality, so Gus is not in the “spot light”
as much as his more gregarious brother.
However, I have caught Gus on a number of occasions sleeping with his
tongue out.
As I think about how Gus came to live with us, I realize it
is his own unique personality that saved him from life as an outdoor farm
kitty. When we first met Gus, he was a
little runty thing. He was just a plain
black kitten. My husband enjoys fishing
and takes the opportunity to do so every chance he can get when he visits his
parents’ farm. To our surprise, Gus would
follow Aaron to the pond and fish with him every day. Additionally, every time Aaron stepped out of
the house, Gus would be right there.
Originally, we were just going to take Mr. Holstein home with us. My husband was intrigued by Gus’s personality
and said we should take them both.
Gus has always been a lover.
He loves to cuddle, both with his brother Holstein and us. He is always trying to sneak into Aaron’s
room so he can cuddle with Aaron. A
couple of years ago Aaron went to visit his parents and found “mini me’s” of
Holstein and Gus. Too cute to leave on
the farm to possibly disappear like their two other littermates, they joined
the family. Dear Reader, if you know
anything about cats, you know they typically don’t welcome newcomers with arms
wide open. It is typically quite the
adjustment period, involving much hissing and spitting. Gus took to the new kittens almost immediately. He took on the role of “mom”. We actually had a hard time keeping him out
of the master bathroom (where we kept the girls until we could trust everyone
to get along unsupervised); he usually stayed the night with the babies,
cuddling up with them.
Since I’ve been home more, Gus has become my cuddle
buddy. In fact, for the past seven to
eight months, he insists on sleeping at the foot of my bed. Which is how we came to be hanging out last
night. I once again was not
sleeping. Around 3:30 this morning Gus
moved from the foot closer to the head where I could pet him. That is when a funny thing happened. I would pet him for a little bit, but if I
stopped, he would take his paw and pet my shoulder. Then I would pet him some more, stop, and
then he would pet my shoulder. This
pattern went on for quite a bit. It was
almost if he was saying “Shhhhh Mommy,
go to sleep.”
I am continually surprised and delighted at my interactions
with my pets. They are a source of joy
and humor. I am not sure what I would
laugh at if it wasn’t for my crazy pets.
No wonder YouTube and Pinterest are filled with funny pet videos and
pictures. I’m not the only one who finds
wonderment in her animal housemates.
Until Tomorrow – Melissa
Awww thank you for sharing such a great animal story with us. Gus sounds like the our kitty, more of a human than a cat really, and a cuddler. He was a stray kitty that made his home with us. I love how you picked out their names, and I would have brought the other three home with me too. ;)
ReplyDeleteThey do make life around her more interesting. Gus is definitely a lover where as Mr. Holstein is more of the class clown.
ReplyDelete