>meow<

We have a cat. Her name is Sylvie. Although we're certain of her existence, many of our friends and family don't believe she's actually real. Why? Because she's afraid of new people. With us she's just a loving, purring, playful thing that comes around and meows at the top of her lungs when she wants some love, and sleeps on top of the covers between our legs at night, switching back and forth between Ryan, who hates it, and me, who puts up with it out of pity for the somewhat-neglected-due-to-arrival-of-baby cat. (It may sound cozy, but try getting out of bed for a crying baby. You have to hoist what feels like a dead weight off your legs.)

We found her at the SPCA, eating her food quietly in her cage. "Sylvia" was written on the card, with an explanation that she had been found on the street, and the SPCA had somehow located her owners who said they didn't want her. She was a larger kitten, about 6 months old, but still very petite. She was black with white paws and a white chest. And when she looked up at us we both stood back and said, "Wow! Look at her eyes!". They were bright yellow, and against that black fur it was very striking. The woman at the SPCA said we could take her out and hold her if we wanted to, so we did, and she was the sweetest, most affectionate thing I had ever held. She purred and tried to lick my face, crawling up onto my neck. It was a challenge to get her back in her cage! We decided she was the one we wanted, so we told the lady, who then told us that she still needed to be spayed, and that we'd have to wait about a week. Fair enough. The next day, however, another woman from the SPCA called and appologized for the mistake. The cat had already been spayed, and there was already another couple in line ahead of us who wanted her. We were heartbroken! (...though knowing she was just a cat, we tried to remain cool and calm...) I pleaded with the woman that if the other couple changed their minds, we really really wanted Sylvia. Apparently the other couple already had an older cat, she told me, and she really felt awful that we had been told we could have her. The call ended. I called Ryan at work and let him know. We had a moment of silence. We wept. We tore our clothes. We covered ourselves in ashes. Okay, no. We got a call a couple hours later. The other couple decided to give Sylvia to us!!!! WOO HOOO!!!! Ryan went by at lunch to pick her up and the rest was history!!!

Although Ryan had a cat or two during his childhood, I only ever had a dog, so I was sort of like a "cat virgin" when we got her two years ago. On second thought, that sounded kind of weird... Let's just say that she was my first cat. Yeah, we'll stick with that.

So her being my first experience of a pet cat, I had some real stereotypes and assumptions to work through. Yes, it was a steep learning curve, but one that paid off immensely through humbling myself and allowing Sylvie to teach me the ways of the kitty. I would have imagined a cat to be a little moody, scratching and biting when she didn't want to be played with. Sylvie, on the other hand, was so sweet. She has never bitten either of us, and scratches came only when we'd play spazzy games with a toy and our hands would accidentally get between her claws and the toy. She's never bitten. She actually used to give us "warnings" where she'd snap her jaw around our hands as if she was about to chomp, but she'd just stop and let us feel her teeth on our skin, then back off. It was a very nice way to learn when she'd had enough. And as for the moods, yes, she has them, but they're not nearly as bad as Ryan's! HAHA!! JUST A JOKE, RYAN! Just trying to keep you on your toes!! :) No, her moods are more spazzy than anything. She hits a point many evenings that I refer to as the "horse races". She dashes around the house, up the stairs and in and out of rooms, and she actually thumps her paws and it sounds like a horse. (what a horrible sentence!) Apart from that, she is pretty laid back and affectionate. Any time we sit down, she's up and onto our laps, including right now as she snuggles in to my lap at the computer.

Yes, she's a good little kitty. I think she's a keeper.