Bert, Brazil and Maddie
Here's our happy trio! As they lay in near Hallmark cuteness, you would think they love each other. Well almost. The cats and dogs tolerate each other quite well but don't really understand one another. They do all like looking out the window, sleeping and cat food, which has caused us to place the little tan crunchy balls on a table out of puppy reach. Maddie gained a couple pounds when she first moved in (and earned the suspicion of the cats).
All three were adopted from the Humane Society. The two cats, Bert and Brazil, from the one in St. Louis. Maddie on the other hand is a Baton Rouge dog.
Randy got Bert in 1992 the week after Halloween. When he went to the Humane Society to adopt his first cat (he was a life long dog lover to that point), he took a friend who was cat savvy to help. While in the kitten adoption room, there was clearly one who was more friendly and outgoing than the rest but Randy wasn't interested since he was a pure black kitten. He had negative impressions of black cats from acquaintances and neighbors who had ones that were nuisances. When he expressed reluctance in choosing the black one, his friend pointed a finger at him and said "Kitty bigot!" Well she had him there. So not wanting to be a kitty bigot, he adopted the black one and have been very grateful ever since. Bert has been a terrific cat. A caveat to the story: evidently, the Humane Society won't let black cats be adopted for two weeks before Halloween because people use them for costumes (or worse).
Bert was acquired as a companion/toy for his first dog Darcy, which explains why Bert thinks he's a dog (i.e. he goes out in the yard on a leash, likes to roll around in the dirt and is exceptionally friendly around visitors). Bert's real name is Bernoulli but that is a bit of a mouthful when trying to call him. Bert's gotten past his desire to shred toilet paper with his claws so the rolls have made it back to the normal place adjacent to the commode.
The tri color, Brazil was adopted as a companion for Bert in 1994 after the dog ran away while Randy was in DC (the house sitter did a better job watching the house than the critters). She's much more typically cat like,
preferring to
hide under the comforter all day and avoid visitors and loud noises when possible. Once, she's decided you're OK, she is very
affectionate and will stay in your lap all night.
Bethany adopted Maddie (a mix of cocker and we think dauschund) in August of 1994 for her 24th birthday (and that makes Bethany how old?!). She's the absolute best dog in the whole world, and she takes after Bethany in her love
of PIZZA - one of my favorite Maddie stories involves a 4-month old Maddie cleverly opening a take-out pizza box and daintily taking a single slice out for herself! -- We were so stunned (and laughing SO hard!) we didn't know whether
to admonish her or praise her ingenuity! (Much to Maddie's disappointment, we've unfortunately learned that she's lactose intolerance, prohibiting us to indulge her pizza cravings.) Maddie loves walks, car-rides (shot-gun, of
course!), and
she now loves to swim, having learned how on the neighborhood camping trip last fall to Meramec Springs. She's friendly, happy, inquisitive, and fiercely loyal, all 19 pounds of her! (which gives her only a couple pounds on the cats!...)
|
|
 |
Maddie can hold her own with Bubba and Shannon but we haven't ever tried them with the cats.
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
