It was a beautiful day in Tampa Bay.

My family and I had a nice lunch out at a local restaurant, and we were happily cracking jokes with each other as we pulled into the driveway. As we were piling out of the car, we noticed a kitten was sitting by our front door.

“Hey look! It’s that neighborhood kitten that we have been seeing around. Look at her,” my brother’s girlfriend said.

I of course, as an animal lover, was extremely excited and immediately went over to pet it.

“Careful, she’s feisty,” my brother warned.

I didn’t listen to him, and I continued to pet the little kitten. She was so cute and cuddly. My mom explained to me that she has continually visited our front yard for the past few days. So I suggested we bring her in the house and take care of her. But like all the other pets that I have begged for, such as a horse or giraffe, my parents said no to the cat and marched me inside.

Three weeks pass and now Boots is our cat.

She was our neighbor’s cat, but she ditched them and came to us (obviously because we are cooler--no offense neighbors, you do rock). According to my brother, my mom started to leave food out for her and then she put a bed at the front door for her. Finally, my parents caved and let her into the house. Since I live in Orlando, I did not get to witness the initiation into the family, but my brother did say it was quite funny watching our dog Jay get used to a little kitten walking around the house and drinking from his water bowl.

Come to find out, this kitten was not a kitten. After I took her to vet when I came back to Tampa for a visit, we were notified that Boots is actually 9 years old, is a runt and is actually very healthy for her age.

How do we know she is healthy? Because she, even at 9 years old, still has the energy to terrorize our lives. This cute little kitten has proved to my family that we are extreme dog people, and we will probably never get a cat again.

Yes, Boots is adorable, and she has her sweet moments when she curls up next to us on the couch or when she places her little paws over Jay’s when they are sleeping. But her true colors have shined as she has become more comfortable with us.

Boots has thrown up all over the house.

She wakes us up at 3 a.m. to let her out.

In the morning when she drowns the house with her meows she usually comes back with a dead creature, usually a mouse.

If you touch her while she’s sleeping, she’ll bite your hand off.

Oh and lastly, her cuteness is just too much to handle.

This little 4-pound 9-year-old cat with little white boots has thrown a wrench into our household’s dynamics, she has given us many frights with her killer claws, she has utterly confused our dog and his understanding of being an only pet and lastly, she has stolen our hearts. Talk about a recipe for disaster.