Furry Friends Friday – Maria’s Gang

It’s Furry Friends Friday, sponsored by Pets Add Life (PAL), whose mission is to spread the joy of multi-pet ownership. We love this mission and we’re here to help!

Each week, we feature a new multi-pet household and today we’re featuring a long time reader, Maria G., and her incredible cast of characters whom I’ve grown to know and love over the last few years.

Here’s what Maria shares….

When I first moved to the States from Argentina in ’95, I did the sensible thing and moved the cats with me. Yes, cats. Two of them – Queen Cachita I and Ozzypan aka The Kitty Pan. After a few years here, Queenie got sick and the Pan still wanted to play and run around and roughhouse with her, so I got him a playmate… Angelus. Yep, Angelus Kitty became the Pan’s baby and even if Queenie never really loved him, she tolerated him.

After she passed, living with two boys in the house was like being 24/7 in the feline version of “Gladiator,” so I got this little girl kitty, whom I was told was “a bit touched in the head” to help calm them down… and that’s how Drusilla came to live with us.

Now Angelus did everything the Pan had done with him, and she became his baby. The Pan was livid but two weeks later, he was hooked. Dru is every bit the princess you can imagine if princesses were big spazzes that headbutt you and rub against you and fur you, all of this while being very vocal, because she has a mouth on her (it helps that she’s half Siamese and has the corresponding ice blue eyes).

Fast-forward a few years, the Pan moves on and even though I was fine with just two cats, a friend brought over semi-feral kittens born in her yard. I got a tabby who never quite lost his feral ways, named him Spike and Angelus, again, stepped up to the plate to raise the kid. It took Dru about two weeks to warm up to him, but she did. Unfortunately, FIP attacks indiscriminately and Spike crossed the bridge at only 18 months old.

I was so sad! Which is weird because I was just fine before with two cats, but I came across a “sale,” if you will, by the Los Angeles County Animal shelter with special prices for dog and cat adoptions and I went to see what was there and…

ENTER.
THE.
WILFY.

Angelus once again stepped up to the plate and raised Wilfy as his own; Dru once again pitched a fit but eventually accepted him and there we were, living happily ever after until we moved to Chicago. Two friends helped me fly the cats in the cabin with us (Jet Blue rocks!) and we settled here in an area full of animal life. We’re close to a forest preserve and so there are a lot of squirrels, birds and even deer (I am not kidding) and the boys took up residence on the windows and became the Neighborhood Watch. The funny thing is that Wilfy, due to his size, quickly became known as “The Big White Cat” or BWC for short, and even the police waved at him and talked to him once. It was adorable.

Unfortunately last year we lost Angelus quite suddenly and unexpectedly. Wilfy was just crushed, and Dru was also showing signs of sadness so I called the Petco nearby and… Sammy
joined the household. He’s now 16 months old and just ADORES his big brother, who stepped up, like Angelus used to, and raised the kid to be a proper watcher and demon hunter (we watch “Supernatural” and Sammy’s named after one of the two demon hunting brothers on the show). Dru took a bit longer this time around to warm up to the kid, but she did. (Continued below after this AWESOME photo….)

There’s no doubt Dru rules the roost. If she decides you have to pay attention to her, you better drop everything and do so. If she needs grooming, she doesn’t care if her brothers are fast asleep – she will stick her head in front of them and they will wake up and thoroughly groom her.

I love having a multicat household. Each cat is different and has his/her personality. They all come to me during the day at different times for different reasons; they take turns nursing me back to health if I’m sick, or pawing at my eyes if I cry, and making me laugh with their silly antics. And I love them dearly and I thank them for being in my life every day.

OH, MARIA! Thank you so much for sharing the background of how your brood came to be. We miss Angelus....

xo,

R&P (and staff)