Furry Kinda Love
This week I was in Milwaukee, Wisconsin kitty-sitting. My daughter had to go out of town for business and I offered to come up and take care of Tillie, the long-haired white and tan sassy but sweet matriarch and Leroy, the younger, short-haired gray with white paws, loving and obedient servant.
Upon arrival, both felines were happy to see me since it had been an overnight stay without human contact. Surprisingly enough, it only took about five minutes for Tillie to saunter over, and unapologetically climb onto my chest settling in for a stay, while Leroy followed suit and happily climbed on my lap. I’d call that a warm greeting.
With all my gear in tow, I’m pretty sure Tillie knew I was packing treats. Hannah only allows them one or two a day, but when I visit that’s not the case…haha. Leroy had a urinary track issue last year and was put on a special cat food diet, neither of the two are very fond of, and unfortunately, Tillie is lumped in by default. On top of that Leroy is obsessed with my daughter and sometimes paces the rooms hoping to find her, so I bought a few new toys hoping it would help with missing her. He immediately started batting and chasing them around the apartment and within a few hours all five were missing!
The dynamics between the two cats is mostly sweet. Leroy knows Tillie is the queen and usually sits and waits for her to finish eating her fill of dry food before he takes a morsel. However, with Leroy being younger, he still has a lot of kitten in him and often bugs Tillie by trying to play. She’ll growl or hiss, letting him know to move on. On a few occasions I found Leroy grooming Tillie and she allowed it which was cute.
I’ve always loved animals and living on a farm there was never a shortage. When I moved from the farm and eventually into a sub-division with my children, they begged to have animals but I always said no since our schedules were busy with school and sports. Animals require a lot of care and I didn’t feel they would get the kind of attention they needed. My work days were long and then it was off to practice or games for both kids.
However, once the kids were out of school and before my daughter moved to Milwaukee, she talked me into getting a kitten and Tillie came into our lives. For a year, it was my daughter, Tillie and me. Often, Tillie would end up in my room during the night and would wrap her furry body around my neck, settle in and purr like a motor boat. Even though it made me hot I couldn’t bring myself to move her off since she was so content.
Until this week, I hadn’t been reminded of that since Leroy and Tillie came for a visit over the Christmas holiday. This week, both Leroy and Tillie were near me the entire stay, they loved me being around. An animal’s love is unconditional. They don’t care what kind of day you’ve had, they are just happy to see you. Even though it’s a furry kinda love, it’s the purest kind. Pets add so much to our lives, wouldn’t you agree?
xoxox…..Sheryl
PS….found Leroy getting cozy in my computer bag, and had to capture it.
