Not a CAT person

I am NOT a cat person. But I love Ali.

My sister Marella has had cats who have had kittens, one who was named HPK (Hurt Paw Kitty- she was born with a paw defect), well she had a few litters and had Sweet Pea, who my other sister Bethany adopted. Sweet Pea had several litters, all of whom Leila adored. She loves cats and kittens. She loved seeing the tiny babies. Sweet Pea had a litter in August 2007 of 7 kittens and Leila fell in love with the "pure black" one, who wasn't pure black, she has white paws, a white chest, and when she was a baby she looked kind of brown.

After much discussion between Jeremy and I, and after weeks and weeks of discussion with Leila and talking to her about what it takes to be a responsible pet owner, we decided she could in fact have her very own little kitten. My mom started to socialize our little black kitty like crazy, holding her and loving her every chance she could. We went to the store and bought the appropriate items for our new kitten, including a few treats and toys(which the kids ended up breaking before we even had the cat come to live with us). We decided on the name Ali at the suggestion of our friend. Right now Leila called her Ali kitten, but someday she will be Ali Cat.

Grandma and Grandpa brought little Ali over to our house on the Friday before Halloween, 2007. She was so small she could hide under our entertainment cabnit! She would climb into Nathans toy Garage! We had to be very careful with her as she was so very fragile. Mommy(that is me) was very on edge and nervous that the cat would not survive. I wasn't sure how I would explain all of that to the kids. I kept telling Beth to keep one kitten on hand, "just in case!" But Ali has learned to hide, defend and ultimately be loved without too many problems. It was great, she came to us box trained, eating food, and happy to be in a family.

She doesn't like other animals. We took her "home" for thanksgiving to see her mom and one sister that stayed. They didn't get along. Maybe she was jealous, maybe she forgot she was a cat, maybe she felt like they sent her off to live in the worst place imaginable! Who knows what their minds think.

She does love the children though. Leila would hold her all day long if I let her. Ali is the first think Leila thinks of in the morning and usually the last thing she thinks of at night. If we are out, Leila goes on a kitty hunt the second she takes her shoes off once we get home. Leila would dress her and bathe her and treat her just like a baby if she could. Ali doesn't really appreciate this. Nathan likes Ali too, but he plays with her a bit, and then leaves her alone. Ali likes this, and gravitates towards Nathan a bit more than Leila. When either child goes to time out, she likes to be close to them. She doesn't like them being upset. She likes to check on them at night, if she hears them coughing, she will leave my side if I am reading or watching TV and she will go check on them. I have even found her sleeping with them.

She is very sweet. She jumps up on the bed and comes and licks my face, which I do not like at all. She enjoys being around us and seems very social. At the vet they told us she was very well behaved and one of the sweetest cats they have ever treated, and they told us they weren't just telling us that.

Its hard to believe a little animal like a Kitten can bring so much into our lives.