Then and Now

I was lucky enough as a child to have 2 cats that didn't seem to mind when I pretended they were my babies. We had a cross-eyed Siamese cat named Kitty Cat and a white, deaf cat named Snowball. I could wrap them up in blankets, shove a bottle in their mouths and they would not protest. No scratching or biting, they seemed to understand that I was a little human and didn't know any better. But Dad told me once that he tried to do the very same thing I did and he got howled at and scratched. Dad also told me that I would put doll clothes on Snowball and he would lie there, looking pitiful, but he humored me.

This photo above is me and my "baby" Kitty Cat in 1979 when I was 5.

Flash forward nearly 30 years to the present and my girls are fortunate enough to have a cat that takes their abuse without a single complaint. Archie will accept his fur being pulled, being carried by his paws, getting dressed in baby clothes and whatever else my girls will dream up. I will stop their playing if Archie runs away and hides under the table in the sun room, otherwise, I remind them to be nice and not to be too rough.

Here, the girls are pretending to give Archie a bath.

I love when the girls choose to play and use their imaginations and it is even better when we have a cat that will play along and give my girlies such pleasure when they pretend he is their baby. They also like to wrap Archie in a blanket and stick him in their toy stroller and wheel him around and around in the basement. There are so many chances for him to escape and run, but he doesn't, so I truly think he enjoys the attention from the girls.

I like to think of this as an example of the never ending cycle of life.