[speaker001:] you said you have four cats
[speaker002:] yes I have four cats
[speaker001:] how old are they
[speaker002:] about 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 yeah
[speaker002:] oh okay get so attached to them
[speaker001:] oh yes I love my cats I lost one one time uh the first one I got he jumped off the balcony actually of a second story apartment and he'd never been outside like you know by himself outside
[speaker002:] oh oh no uh-huh
[speaker001:] and it started raining and I was hysterical I was I mean you would have thought a child had died I called everyone I knew I had every friend I knew in the apartment searching for this cat and they laughed at me they thought that was so hysterical
[speaker002:] yeah um-hum yes I understand oh no I understand we have uh we've gone through the same thing with ours we've cut you know they've been ill I mean I take off work to take care of my cats you know the my boss thinks I'm absolutely crazy
[speaker001:] oh yeah
[speaker002:] and then we had a baby and its like all right who comes first the cat or the baby
[speaker001:] right the cat was here first so I know it's hard
[speaker002:] and and then when we go to sleep at night you know it's like uh 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 it's like all right whose corners is this one
[speaker001:] oh how funny 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 and lord knows what happened to him
[speaker002:] yes uh-huh that's it
[speaker001:] but 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 we started out with two with two outdoor cats but our neighbor decided he didn't like cats and shot one of them
[speaker001:] are they 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 the the cat almost died and but he turned out to be such a wonderful cat oh he loves life now
[speaker001:] oh my gosh uh 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 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 oh my gosh
[speaker002:] oh yes it was absolutely nuts uh 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
[speaker001:] people are crazy oh Lord
[speaker002:] of in and out of the vet and surgery and today I mean he started off as a stray and then we did all this for him
[speaker001:] oh man
[speaker002:] but oh they he's been a wonderful cat
[speaker001:] I imagine they usually are after something like that happens to them it just seems to mellow them or something
[speaker002:] oh yes but uh we wouldn't have we wouldn't have them I mean I don't see us without pets without cats there's just uh there's this they just fill this void
[speaker001:] no oh yeah I kept 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 and it worries me that one day one of them won't come back and
[speaker002:] uh-huh yes
[speaker001:] 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 I just I go hysterical when they don't come home oh just
[speaker002:] oh no right and you worry about oh who's taking care of them you know
[speaker001:] oh yeah and every time you see one hit on the side of the road you say is that my cat and you go crazy thinking it might be yours
[speaker002:] uh-huh uh 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 and uh well I fell in love with this uh it's a Chinchilla Persian and uh brought him home and
[speaker001:] uh-huh ooh
[speaker002:] oh my husband just died it was like we can't take it back you've got we've got to keep it now
[speaker001:] really well 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 and it took me about two weeks to realize that was real lonely so I found this one
[speaker002:] uh-huh um-hum yes
[speaker001:] in a actually it was on a sign at Taco Bell drive-thru that said free kittens and I thought well that's interesting I'll call them 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 uh right oh uh-huh
[speaker001:] and he was the last one she carried across you know the whole big sad story so of course I had to take him I felt so sorry for him after that and he is uh you can tell he was weaned too young because he'll nurse on your ears and your fingers
[speaker002:] oh right right 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 but he is the lovingest cat everybody people who don't even like cats like him
[speaker002:] yeah oh
[speaker001:] he never meows he he doesn't have any front claws I had him declawed but he doesn't bite anybody he's just he's just kind of there real friendly and docile
[speaker002:] oh uh-huh 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:] oh yeah yeah we do we call that doing biscuits it looks like their kneading bread
[speaker002:] oh yes yes oh it just drives us nuts
[speaker001:] oh I just love cats I like dogs they're okay I had I had a dog when I lived at home but they're a lot more trouble than cats actually
[speaker002:] um yeah they really are the cats are so independent and they have so much more personality than a dog
[speaker001:] oh yeah oh yeah they do
[speaker002:] and but oh they're so much fun to watch them play it's just just hysterical
[speaker001:] oh they are I love it it's so funny to get more than one cat together because it brings out their personalities and they just act so funny
[speaker002:] yes oh we've got uh well the two that were outside they're like brothers I mean I've never seen two cats so close and uh they uh will get to playing chase through the house and it is hysterical I mean and then the other two cats w ill follow in suit it's like this train I understand
[speaker001:] really uh-huh a train of cats running around
[speaker002:] sounds like a train we've got we have wooden floors and so it just sort of echoes through the house
[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:] we have uh Bonzo Bear Poindexter and Felix and what do you have
[speaker001:] oh how sweet I have Xanadu and Precious and Rascal
[speaker002:] uh 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 and Rascal is a black and white short hair
[speaker002:] huh uh-huh yeah 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 and she's so ugly
[speaker001:] oh so ugly she's cute right
[speaker002:] yes uh-huh I mean you can't help but love her and she's the she's the oldest one and but uh very possessive I mean it's like nobody messes with her mama and uh I mean it comes bedtime and she's right there
[speaker001:] really oh is she the oldest one
[speaker002:] yeah she's the oldest and she well in fact I got her when I moved out of the house also and so yeah it uh
[speaker001:] yeah really
[speaker002:] wouldn't have I mean oh if something happens to her um
[speaker001:] oh I know it's like the end of the world
[speaker002:] it will be yes
[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 yeah this is nothing like cats
[speaker001:] yeah you can walk a dog and that's okay for a weekend but cats are good all the time
[speaker002:] uh-huh 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
[speaker002:] oh that's one of the requirements I asked him I said now you do like cats right we don't like
[speaker001:] have you seen those uh do you ever read Cosmo
[speaker002:] yes uh-huh
[speaker001:] there was a 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 and you know 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 right the child will learn to like cats and deal with them I'm sorry we are not getting rid of the cats
[speaker001:] watch me definitely oh I wouldn't either there'd be no way
[speaker002:] the whole family was so disappointed
[speaker001:] oh really
[speaker002:] oh well
[speaker001:] right 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
[speaker002:] uh well
[speaker001:] well it's been nice talking to you
[speaker002:] well it was nice talking to you too I enjoyed it
[speaker001:] me too bye bye
[speaker002:] okay thanks bye bye