[speaker001:] You said you have four cats?
[speaker002:] Yes, I have four cats.
[speaker001:] How old are they?
[speaker002:] Well they range from, let's see about a year and a half to nine years old.
[speaker001:] Oh gosh.
[speaker002:] Yes.
[speaker001:] I haven't had my oldest one quite nine years, I've had him probably five years.
[speaker002:] Oh okay, you get so attached to them.
[speaker001:] Oh yes, I love my cats. I lost one, one time, uh,
[speaker002:] Oh.
[speaker001:] the first one I got. He jumped off the balcony actually, of a second story apartment.
[speaker002:] Oh no.
[speaker001:] And he'd never been outside, like, you know, by himself outside.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] And it started raining and I was hysterical. I was, I was, I mean, you would have thought a child had died.
[speaker002:] Yes, uh-huh.
[speaker001:] I called everyone I knew, I had every friend I knew in the apartment searching for this cat.
[speaker002:] Yes, I understand.
[speaker001:] And they laughed at me, they thought that was so hysterical.
[speaker002:] Oh no, I understand, we, uh, we've gone through the same things with ours, we've had, you know, they've been ill, I mean I take off work,
[speaker001:] Oh yeah.
[speaker002:] to take care of my cats, you know, my boss thinks I'm absolutely crazy.
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] And then we had a baby and it's like, all right who comes first the cat or the baby.
[speaker001:] The cat was here first so [LAUGHTER]. I know, it's hard.
[speaker002:] And, and then when we go to sleep at night, you know, it's like my husband and I have to try to get any space on the bed because we have all four of them up there with us.
[speaker001:] Oh, how funny.
[speaker002:] It's like all right, whose corners is this one.
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER] That's sweet, I have the two, the other two cats I have are outdoor cats.
[speaker002:] Oh, uh-huh.
[speaker001:] And they didn't used to be actually, but they got kind of wild and weren't doing very well inside, so I put them outside once I got a house and they're doing great out there, they love it. But the other one, the first one I got he doesn't want anything to do with outside unless you're there.
[speaker002:] Oh, uh-huh.
[speaker001:] Other than that he gets scared to death. If you shut that door he goes into hiding.
[speaker002:] Oh no.
[speaker001:] I think it's from the time he jumped off the balcony [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] Yes, uh-huh, that's it [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] And Lord knows what happened to him. [LAUGHTER] He's probably been through all kinds of nightmares.
[speaker002:] Right, traumatized for life here.
[speaker001:] Probably.
[speaker002:] Oh yeah, we've, all four of ours are house cats.
[speaker001:] Are they.
[speaker002:] We started out with two, with two outdoor cats but our neighbor decided he didn't like cats and shot one of them.
[speaker001:] Oh no.
[speaker002:] Oh well he lived through it, oh, I couldn't believe it. We went through like twenty-two hundred dollars worth of vet bills.
[speaker001:] Oh my gosh.
[speaker002:] The, the cat almost died, and but he turned out to be such a wonderful cat, oh he loves life now.
[speaker001:] Oh, I imagine.
[speaker002:] And he's like oh, thank you so much.
[speaker001:] I wonder how many of his lives he missed, when that happened.
[speaker002:] I know, we wondered about that. But, uh, oh that was a traumatic experience for us too.
[speaker001:] Oh, I can imagine, what did he shoot him with.
[speaker002:] Uh, well, uh, from what we can tell it was a pellet gun and then he started chasing him with a bull whip.
[speaker001:] Oh my gosh. People are crazy.
[speaker002:] Oh yes, absolutely nuts. But, uh, luckily enough, you know, we found the cat in time and, uh, rushed him to the vet and it took us about six weeks of in and out of the vet and surgery and,
[speaker001:] Oh Lord.
[speaker002:] tod-, I mean he started off as a stray and then we did all this for him [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] Oh man.
[speaker002:] But oh, he's been a wonderful cat.
[speaker001:] I imagine. They usually are after something like that happens to them. It seems to mellow them or something.
[speaker002:] Oh yes. But, uh, we wouldn't ha-, we wouldn't have them, I mean, I don't see us without pets, without cats.
[speaker001:] No.
[speaker002:] There's just, uh, there's this, they just fill this void.
[speaker001:] Oh yeah, I ke-, I keep talking about getting rid of my outdoor cats because I feel like I don't, I can't take care of them as well because they're outside,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] and it worries me that one day one of them won't come back,
[speaker002:] Yes.
[speaker001:] and I feel like they need a big home, a nice place where someone can have the time to play with them and things. But I can't give them up.
[speaker002:] Oh no.
[speaker001:] I just, I go hysterical when they don't come home.
[speaker002:] Right and you worry about, oh, who's taking care of them.
[speaker001:] Oh, oh yeah, and every time you see one hit on the side of the road you say is that my cat.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] And you go crazy thinking it might be yours.
[speaker002:] Right, well I didn't realize my husband was such a sucker for animals until I brought one home one night. We, we-, I had one that had, we had, we had to put to sleep he got so sick.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] And, uh, well I fell in love with this, uh, it's a Chinchilla Persian,
[speaker001:] Ugh!
[speaker002:] and, uh, brought him home, and oh, my husband just died.
[speaker001:] Really.
[speaker002:] It was like we can't take it back you've got, we've got to keep it now.
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER] It's here now, we have to keep it. Yeah, my, my first one that I got, I had just moved away from home and got my own apartment. It took me about two weeks to realize, that was real lonely.
[speaker002:] Uh-huh, uh-huh, yes.
[speaker001:] So I found this one and, uh, actually it was on a sign at Taco Bell drive-thru that said free kittens.
[speaker002:] Oh uh-huh.
[speaker001:] And I thought [beep] well that's interesting, I'll call them.
[speaker002:] Right.
[speaker001:] And he was the only one left and his mother had been killed coming back across the road to make sure she'd gotten all her kittens.
[speaker002:] Oh, uh-huh.
[speaker001:] And he was the last one she carried across, you know, the whole big sad story.
[speaker002:] Oh.
[speaker001:] So of course, I had to take him. I felt so sorry for him after that.
[speaker002:] Right, right.
[speaker001:] And he is, uh, you can tell he was weaned too young because he'll nurse on your ears and your fingers.
[speaker002:] Oh no.
[speaker001:] Yeah, he, I asked the vet why he did that and he said he was probably weaned too young, which he was, because his mom was killed, so.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] But he is the lovingest cat. Everybody, people who don't even like cats, like him.
[speaker002:] Oh.
[speaker001:] He never meows, he, he doesn't have any front claws, I had him declawed,
[speaker002:] Oh, uh-huh.
[speaker001:] but he doesn't bite anybody he's just, he's just kind of there, real friendly and docile.
[speaker002:] Oh that's good. Oh we just, uh, just love them. They, uh, you know, get to feeling so lovey and dovey and they'll come up and just start kneading in our chest and it's like oh, your claws need trimming.
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER] Oh yeah, yeah, we do, we call that doing biscuits,
[speaker002:] Oh yes, yes.
[speaker001:] it looks like their kneading bread [LAUGHTER]. *spelling "their" should be "they're"
[speaker002:] Oh it just drives us nuts.
[speaker001:] Oh, I just love cats. I like dogs, they're okay, I had,
[speaker002:] Um, yeah.
[speaker001:] I had a dog when I lived at home but they're a lot more trouble than cats actually.
[speaker002:] They really are. The cats are so independent and they have so much more personality than a dog.
[speaker001:] Oh yeah, they do.
[speaker002:] And, but oh, they're so much fun to watch them play.
[speaker001:] Oh they are. I love it, it's so funny to get more than one cat together, because it brings out their personalities.
[speaker002:] Yes.
[speaker001:] And they just act so funny.
[speaker002:] Oh, we've got, well the two that were outside, they're like brothers, I mean I've never seen two cats so close.
[speaker001:] Really.
[speaker002:] And, uh, they, uh, will get to playing chase through the house,
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] and it is hysterical, I mean and then the other two cats will follow in pursuit. It's like this train.
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER] A train of cats running around.
[speaker002:] I mean it sounds like a train. We have wooden floors and so it just sort of echoes through the house [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] Oh how funny, I can imagine. Yeah, I wouldn't give anything for my cats. I love them to death.
[speaker002:] Oh no, they're just, they're, they're just, uh, they're wonderful, uh.
[speaker001:] What are your cats' names.
[speaker002:] Uh, we have, uh, Bonzo, Bear, Poindexter, and Felix.
[speaker001:] Oh, how sweet.
[speaker002:] And what do you have.
[speaker001:] I have Xanadu and Precious, and Rascal.
[speaker002:] Oh.
[speaker001:] Precious and Rascal are brother and sister and they don't look a thing a like. Nothing. Precious is a medium hair yellow cat,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh, yeah.
[speaker001:] and Rascal is a black and white short hair.
[speaker002:] Nothing.
[speaker001:] They don't look a thing a like,
[speaker002:] Not a thing, goodness gracious.
[speaker001:] and they came from the same litter and everything.
[speaker002:] We have, uh, uh, tortoise which is a black and, and orange.
[speaker001:] Oh.
[speaker002:] And she's so ugly.
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER] So ugly she's cute, right.
[speaker002:] Yes, uh-huh. I mean you can't help but love her. She's, she's the oldest one and, but, uh, very possessive.
[speaker001:] Really.
[speaker002:] I mean it's like nobody messes with her mamma.
[speaker001:] Oh.
[speaker002:] And, uh, I mean, it comes bedtime and she's right there.
[speaker001:] Is she the oldest one?
[speaker002:] [Talking] Yeah, she's the oldest. And she, well in fact I got her when I moved out of the house also.
[speaker001:] Really.
[speaker002:] And so yeah, it's, uh, wouldn't have, I mean, oh, if something happens to her.
[speaker001:] Oh I know it's like the end of the world.
[speaker002:] [Noise] It will be.
[speaker001:] I know that's how I am about Xanadu.
[speaker002:] Oh, goodness. You get so attached to them.
[speaker001:] Oh definitely.
[speaker002:] My mother has dogs and I'm like, no.
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] This is nothing like cats.
[speaker001:] You can walk a dog and that's okay for weekend but cats are good all the time.
[speaker002:] Right, I'm so glad my husband is a cat person because if he was a dog person, no, it wouldn't have worked.
[speaker001:] It wouldn't have, no that would be a problem [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER] Oh that's one of the requirements I asked him. I said, now you do like cats, right. We don't li-,
[speaker001:] Have you seen those, uh, do you ever read COSMO.
[speaker002:] Yes, uh-huh.
[speaker001:] There was cartoon in COSMO about a year or two ago and it had this man sitting on a couch with his date and there were cats hanging all over him. Hanging on his clothes, you know, they had ripped him up and the couch was ripped up and down at the bottom he said, of course I love cats.
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] And they were just all over him and sitting on his head, the whole nine yards. It was so funny.
[speaker002:] Oh yeah, oh, the whole time I was pregnant they kept saying, are you getting rid of your cats, are you getting rid of your cats. You can't be pregnant and have cats. I'm like, uh, no, no, no.
[speaker001:] [LAUGHTER] Watch me.
[speaker002:] Right, the child will learn to like cats.
[speaker001:] Definitely.
[speaker002:] and deal with them, I'm sorry, we are not getting rid of the cats.
[speaker001:] Oh I wouldn't either. There'd be no way.
[speaker002:] The whole family was so disappointed [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] Oh really, [LAUGHTER] oh well.
[speaker002:] Right.
[speaker001:] That's life, that's how life goes.
[speaker002:] Right, uh, but yes, we just, just love them to death.
[speaker001:] I know, I love mine too. Well, it's been nice talking to you.
[speaker002:] Well it was nice talking to you too, I enjoyed it.
[speaker001:] Me to. Bye, bye.
[speaker002:] Bye, bye.