The "Friends For Life" Story

The Gray Lady and Snickerdoodle relaxing in their box lids.

It was an ordinary day.  Watching our cats, The Gray Lady and Snicker- doodle, racing around the house, chasing each other.  It was after Christmas of 2018 that we brought these two little strays into our house one freezing week.  One was a male and the other a female.  

The Gray Lady rests along Carol's legs.

Not sure if they were from the same litter, but that didn't matter. They have become best friends and give Carol and me hours of entertain- ment and companion- ship.  The female we had spayed and during the procedure the vet found she had a few kittens in her which were lost since they were too young to survive.  Due to that, she hasn't grown to be the same size as her companion, Snickerdoodle.  He too was neutered with no problems.  

Snickerdoodle enjoying his monkey.

Animals such as cats and dogs were domesti- cated somewhere between 13,000 and 30,000 years ago.  Humans became accustomed and attached to dogs first, but it didn't take long before the cat was also accepted.  This past year scientists discovered an ancient cemetery near Siberia's Lake Baikal where thousands of dogs had been buried right alongside their human companions.  

Watching a video of birds and mice.

Valuable items were found in the graves leading to the thought that they were meant to be used in the afterlife.  It is also known that in ancient Egyptian times, household pets were laid to rest in elaborate tombs decorated with inscriptions, furnished with treasure and scented by incense.  Cats were first domesticated by the Natufians who lived in the Levant about 10,000 years ago.

The Gray Lady taking a "selfie".

 As cats began to congregate around settle- ments, they became more social, developing communi- cation skills needed to deal with humans.  Eventually someone did studies and found that pet ownership was good for human's physical and mental health.  When Carol heard about that, we were never without a pet.  For the two of us, the warm feeling we get when we look into the eyes of our cats is real.  Today about 68% of U.S. households, or about 85 million families, own a pet or two.  That's up 56% from the same study done in 1988.  Hey, we're holding up our part of the study.  Do you have a pet...and if not, why not.  There are many strays in most neighborhoods who would love to be your friend and companion.  They will teach you forgiveness, love and companionship as good as any human could do.  Trust me...I know!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The handsome Snickerdoodle!

The sweet and devilish Gray Lady.