I currently have two cats in my life; Garfield is about 15 years old (the eldest cat my family has ever had), and Gus (also known as Gussie and Gus-Gus) is about 6 years old. Garfield had been 12 years old when we brought in Gus as a 6 month old kitten, and not much longer my dog Sherlock (8 months old) joined them. Garfield and Gus bonded quickly. Since Gus was orphaned, we thought Garfield had adopted Gus like a son. We have watched them bathe each other and sleep together. When gus had been the size of a computer mouse, he had been able to sleep on top of Garfield.

At 5 years old Gus is has grown much larger than Garfield, and is the same size as Sherlock (a dauchshund/ cocker spaniel mix). The three of them get along fairly well. I am actually more worried about Gus roughhousing with Sherlock and Garfield. Since Garfield is elderly, he doesn’t care for rough play, and I believe Gus could easily overtake Sherlock as well. I have always loved animals, but there is something very curious about cats. Gus’s bright blue eyes are as clear as a lake during the summer morning, but every bit of me wants to understand the mysteries of his mind. I’m only half certain he is thinking about food and sleeping. A part of me thinks he is plotting his next move as leader of the secret feline organization. (Just kidding.)

For as long as I can remember, there has been a cat in my house. The first cat I met was originally my mom’s, but I am too young to remember. The first cat I can recall would be Scuddles. We adopted him after he kept visiting our house for treats and I named him after the seagull in “The Little Mermaid”. I was already walking and I had enough strength to hold him from under his little arms, which probably wasn’t the nicest thing I could do. Luckily he was a patient cat, and I never worried about him striking out when I held him. We took Scuddles across the Atlantic with us, because our family was being stationed in Fort Giessen, Germany. I think he adjusted well, as he was always in and out of the apartment and would eventually return.

Unfortunately, when it came time for our family to move back to the U.S, we realized that Scuddles had found a new home across the street. Since Scuddles was going to be taken care of, we left him in Germany. We arrived in Washington state by mid-August and by December we had a new cat from Petsmart called Sonya. She was rather timid and didn’t adjust well to being an indoor cat, which we were attempting because our past experience with outdoor cats meant there was a risk of a runaway. I wasn’t keen on losing another cat, so when it happened and Sonya was no where to be found while we were in progress of moving to Lacey, I was extremely hurt and vowed never to get another cat.

Obviously, I did get another cat. It wasn’t my decision at first. My parents brought home Garfield, and when I had returned from school I discovered a cat hiding under the bed. At first I was unwilling to accept this new cat in my life. I told myself that he would runaway eventually, but the only thing that left was the pain from losing my previous cat. I would later learn to cuddle with Garfield in my sleep, and occasionally Gus will sleep by my feet. Sometimes it is hard to get all three animals in the same room. Now that we have a doggy door, they are constantly in and out of the house. Usually sleeping on the deck when the sun is out. It is at night that we catch them and bring them inside.

There were times that I was worried the night had swallowed them up, and I wondered if I would see and hold them again. There were two days and three nights that we didn’t know where Garfield was. Although I heard his cries, I began to believe I was merely imagining it. Then finally my dad opened the doors of our second car, which we hadn’t been using that summer, to discover Garfield huddled in the car blanket. He was lucky to have survived without food or water in that car, and the possible overheating. Which may have been avoided because the car was covered. Either way we got Garfield back, and he kept purring for the rest of the day. I am still remorseful that I hadn’t checked the car sooner.

Now that we have moved into a new house, I’m still nervous that we may lose one of the cats due to their adventurous spirits. Gus-gus is especially keen to go outside first thing in the morning. Sometimes he escapes without eating, and then I worry about what birds he might be catching when he could have a full bowl of treats at home. When we discovered Gus, he was part of a large litter that we would be fostering for 2 months. However, we soon discovered that 6 rambunctious kittens was too much for myself and my mom to handle. And so we divided the litter and gave the other three to another foster family. We kept Gus and two of his sisters. Gus had been a fluffy white kitten with blue eyes, and we adored his patient and affectionate manner.

After we adopted him, we hoped he would continue the habit of cuddling on our shoulders. To our disappointment, Gus-gus grew out of that and entered a “rebellious teenage phase”. He is usually hanging out with Garfield or on his own outdoors, and will only be nice when he is interested in affection or food. He is also a very difficult cat to hold. Even a second of being held in my arms creates a frenzy. I have been bitten and scratched by Gus on multiple occasions because I got too close. That is why he’s my devil in disguise, but he can still be an angel about 2% of the time. I only hope he mellows with age and will become the compassionate cat he was when he was younger. Sticks and stones will break my bones, but nothing hurts more when a beloved pet scratches or bites me. Although I have suffered at the paws of my cat, Gus, he will always be the cat that was meant to be part of my family.