Two Goons

enendawson

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Hi,

I'm new here (obviously).  My husband and I have been married since October 2012, but we've been together 6 years, and lived together for 5.  We're young but responsible and working toward doing what we really want to do in life (while working decent jobs).  This month, we will finally be living on our own.

My husband was NOT a cat person until this last September.  His family had cats that he described as "furniture" and he didn't want a cat at all but agreed that eventually he would get a cat because I love cats.  I grew up with two cats, Toonces and Mineaux, who still live with my mom and are over ten years old.

Last September, Hurricane Isaac hit Louisiana.  I was sitting on my mom's patio with her and my aunt after, and my mom was saying how she wanted a kitten, (my aun'ts coworker had picked up two stray 5 and 9 week old kittens knowing the hurricane would hit).  I was devastated to find out that my mom thought that Mineaux (my family's oldest cat) had died.  She's been an outside cat since I was 6 in Tennessee, and she had gone off before Isaac hit and hadn't come back.  I said, for the millionth time, how much I wanted a kitten, and everyone, as usual, said I shouldn't get a cat yet because we're young and cat's are expensive.  Thankfully, Mineaux came back home.  But I still wanted a kitten so much.  I bugged my husband (then fiancé) so much that he said if I could get our roommates and his mother that I could have a cat, then I could adopt one of the stray kittens.  Strangely, they all agreed, his mom having been one who told me I couldn't take care of a cat.  Well, I became anxious and convinced myself I couldn't take care of a cat, when my aunt's coworker sent me a video of the kittens playing, and I couldn't NOT adopt one.  My own coworker was interested in the other. 

Laufeia was a quiet kitten.  Her "sister" was loud and sassy, but Laufeia was cautious.  I brought her home in a box, and she immediately went to sleep.  She didn't wake up until my husband came home, and he has loved her ever since she sat up and meowed at him.  We got married a month after, and left Laufeia with my coworker for the weekend.  My husband woke up on the second day of our honeymoon, and wanted to leave the hotel early to pick up our Laufeia (more his).  I couldn't decide who he thought he'd married!  She spent the rest of the day when we brought her back on his chest, licking his lips, all over him. 

Laufeia is hilarious and smart.  She has the funniest facial expressions.  She's good with any stranger in our house.  When we had her spayed, she wouldn't stop messing with her stitches, so I put a cone on her.  She figured out how to maneuver the boxes we kept for her to play with to make a step to the bed so she could still sleep with us.  She's the cat who steals the last piece of pizza to pick off the bacon topping (if you're too slow).  She steals the lollipop you've been saving because you don't get them too often (who knows what a cat wants with a lolly anyway?)  She sleeps on your head, in your arms, and chirps instead of meowing.

My husband and I are going to move out on our own soon, and since Laufeia is so used to someone around all the time, or at least my mother-in-law's dog (who we take of),he wanted to get another kitten.  I had seen a kitten at the Petsmart after my mom brought me with her to bring her dogs for grooming.  She was the saddest faced kitten I ever did see.  My husband wanted another kitten to keep Laufeia company when we work.  I told him all about the sad-face kitten, and we ended up bring Suzi home the next day, no matter how much I said we were just going to look.  Suzi is the opposite of Laufeia.  She's long-haired, tortoiseshelled, where Laufeia is shorthaired calico.  She's shy; Laufeia's digging everyone if they're up to play.  We want Suzi to love us more, but we're very patient.  We sneak in a pet every now and then, but mostly we're met with fear and hissing (though no intentional injury).  What we're most happy about is that Suzi LOVES Laufeia.  They hit it off just one day after we brought Suzi home.  We were keeping them separate, but they were so interested in each other that we left them be.  Now, Suzi follows Laufeia everywhere.  She rubs her, sleeps with her, sits with her, even tries to clean her (which Laufeia seems to think is creepy). 

Living in Louisiana (at least my area) we've heard a lot of bad things about groomers and shelters.  Our vet is the best in town, I'm convinced.  But I've heard of groomers near us who've strangled or hanged dogs (and are shut down, thank god).  But my husband informed me that he also heard that the Petsmarts about us are not known for treating their animals well.  Laufeia was a stray, and we and everyone who meets her loves her.  We feel that Suzi may have been hurt by people.  We try to get close to her, we don't force her to be held, but she is still so scared, though it's been a month.  We won't give her up.  If she was treated badly, at least she's found peace with our rambunctious Laufeia.  And maybe, bit by bit, she will love us as much.
 

vball91

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Welcome to TCS! Thanks for sharing your story. Laufeia (love her name by the way) sounds like a blast, and I really think that Suzi will come to trust and love you in her own time.
 
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  • #3

enendawson

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Thank you!.  My husband chose the name Laufeia, a Norse goddess.  She is the most fun cat I've ever met. Not a day goes by that I don't have some story to tell about her and her quirks. 

I can tell Suzi has an interesting personality.  I didn't notice for some time, but Suzi has a black "half-mask" on the opposite side of her face that Laufeia has on the other.  They wake me up every morning around 6 playing under the bed beneath my head.  Having Suzi has made us appreciate Laufeia more than we already did.  She is so sweet and easy.  She even plays gently with my mother-in-law's dog (who has severely sensitive skin).  Everytime we worry about how Laufeia will react to something, she comes through fine and dandy. 

Every day, Suzi gets a little more comfortable - because of Laufeia, I'm convinced.  Suzi even jumped up onto  my husband's chest the other day - I think because she sees Laufeia do that all the time.  She still runs away and hisses sometimes when we approach.  But even when she hisses, she lets us pet her and starts purring (if she didn't run away).  I feel that we were meant to adopt Suzi.  Poor, scared thing as she is, she needs Laufeia to teach her how to get out and let her hair down.  Suzi's all over the house now.  And Laufeia likes her around, even though Suzi doesn't know you're not supposed to eat the dog food hockey puck.
 

mani

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I feel that we were meant to adopt Suzi.  Poor, scared thing as she is, she needs Laufeia to teach her how to get out and let her hair down.  Suzi's all over the house now.  And Laufeia likes her around, even though Suzi doesn't know you're not supposed to eat the dog food hockey puck.
I think you were meant to too... Laufeia is her teacher and I'm sure she'll teach her well.  Meanwhile, be patient.. I can see you are.. and enjoy your lovely feline friends.


And welcome to TCS! 
 
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enendawson

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I'm glad.  Laufeia is good for Suzi.  We want Suzi to find some sort of happiness.  We have been hearing so much about vets, groomers, and shelters abusing their animals (in our area) recently.  It's insane!  Even cats have been killed getting routine exams.  I can't wait to move from this area.  I have a coworker who had worked for vets (and with shelters), and I talk to her whenever I have a concern. I thought I was being paranoid to think Suzi was mistreated, but my coworker agrees that Suzi sounds like she had a bad experience with people. It's horrible to think that a feral stray likes people more than the kitten brought in by a family with too many cats.
 
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