Cat ownership at 30

As a part of my lifelong learning, I became a pet owner for the first time at the age of 30. If you asked me when I was 9, I would have said my first pet would be a dog.

Instead, my first pet was a cat, and not the one pictured to the left. She is cat number three.

My first cat, Molly, was adopted on February 6, 1999 from the Stafford Animal Shelter in Livingston, Montana. She was about 5 months old and literally walked onto my lap at the shelter. I figured this was a good sign, so we adopted her. She lived with us in Yellowstone National Park for her first month with us.

In March 1999, my husband and I moved with Molly to a 20-acre ranch 20 miles south of Livingston and rented a small apartment there. Molly watched from inside and watched the landlord's calico cat, three dogs, horse, crazy llama and ducks wander around the ranch.

In May of that year, she ventured outdoors and didn't turn back becoming very confident in being outside. She became a proficient hunter. She loved to find the oddest hiding places, including an abandoned horse trailer, to take outdoor naps. After awhile, we decided as long as she knew where she was, that was okay by us. She'd come back when she was good and ready.

In time, Molly moved with us to our 8 acre property 3 miles down the road a-piece. She would let out panther-like screams when neighboring cats came on the property. My dad installed a catdoor for us and Molly loved to bring in mice, voles, and birds. After awhile we decided we didn't enjoy the live animals indoors (besides Molly herself), so we had a piece of wood to block the catdoor. Whew!

A few years later, we adopted a orange tabby we named Tony, so Molly would not get so lonely when we traveled. Molly didn't know what to think of Tony who was a tiny kitten at the time. She eventually tolerated him and would engage in cat-wrassling and the occasional grooming session. The two cats where like John and Yoko with their occasional bed-ins. The younger ginger Tomcat and the older, more exotic lady cat.

In 2006, we saw a Siamese at the Bozeman PetSmart. She was our 3rd cat. My daughter felt it was her birthday gift, as we adopted Koko, two days before her birthday in December. Koko was a stray so we have no idea how old she is. As with most Siamese, she is extremely playful and curious. Tony was scared of her at first and Molly just tolerated her. Tony warmed up quickly to Koko and they tussled and Koko always groomed Tony. Tony was 12 pounds and Koko only 6 pounds, but they were such a cute pair!

Molly could care less about the other two cats--as long as she could go out and hunt, she was okay.

Stay tuned for a future post on the cats travels of 1200 plus miles down to Mesa, Arizona. . .