Grateful for - pets

What pets or animals are you thankful for?

We have a gorgeous old tabby cat called Mo. We picked her up from the SPCA in Wellington in 1996 so in effect she was Scott's & my first baby. She was about 3 or 4 years old when we picked her up. In fact she actually picked us because when we went to see the cats at the SPCA she came up & brushed up & said hello to me. The SPCA people wanted us to take a very wild & mean looking cat but how can you say no to a cat that seems to choose you. She had been at the SPCA for a while & she was on their list to be put down so there was no way I was going to let that happen to her. When we brought her home (to Fitzpatrick St in Newlands) she spent a good part of the day just hiding under the furniture. A couple of days later she came out of hiding & we got to love her. She was young & playful & would catch birds, lizards & mice & bring them into the house.

Until Brent was born she was most definitely MY cat & rarely deigned to sit with Scott. When Brent was born her allegiances changed or maybe hers & mine both changed. She switched to being Scott's cat & I became Brent's mum. She seemed curious about Brent at first & while he was immobile she was happy to be around him. Then Brent became mobile & she was under fire from Brent. She taught Brent early on not to pull her tail & then she decided once he was a toddler that it really was better to stay away from him. His unpredictable actions seemed to worry her so she then became very much a less social cat.

In 2001 we brought her with us down to Christchurch, she never travels well so we had to drug her so she could be quiet on her flight down. She was very wobbly on her pins after she arrived at my mothers house & it was frightening to see. She moved to our current house with us & became very much an outdoor cat. There were now 2 young children so she kept her distance from them & really only came inside when she knew they were in bed for the night.

In the last couple of years she's been showing her age. She spends most of her time inside now where it is warm. She has stopped hunting although she will sit in the window & give a funny meow at birds that she can see. She is still Scott's cat but she is a much more sociable cat. She will come & say hello to the boys now & is actually quite affectionate to Brent. James still has that impulsive ability to unnerve her & send her running for the catflap.

She's been a wonderful companion to both Scott & I & it has been nice for both boys to grow up with her. I know that when her time comes she will be sorely missed by all of us.