Today Ava Played with the Cats

I've been wanting to tell you about your pets for some time now and today gave me the opportunity to tell you about them.

We have had two cats for a number of years and thought they weren't too fond of you when we brought you home from the hospital, they have now become your guardians of sorts. 

They'll lay with you on the couch or in our bed, they'll come to you and make sure you're okay, and they generally just don't run away when you start crying anymore. 

Let me give you a bit of background. We took Cookie (or Monster as you've probably gotten to know her as) in first - well i did. She was a stray that I took in shortly after I moved out and was on my own. See I had a few years before I met your mother at this point.

She showed up at the Hall of Fame and greeted all of us as we walked in the door that day. When the doors opened to the public, the cat followed. She could be seen greeting customers as they came to the building. This was April of 2005. 

We always had cats growing up and I told our security that if she was still around at 5:00 p.m. I would take her home and try to find her owner. Well, closing time came and went and she was no longer around. I figured she was gone. 

Around 8:00 p.m. that evening I received a phone call from our maintenance man, Tim Triner, who was contacted by the cleaning crew who heard about the animal and that I would take it in. How they found out, I don't know to this day. I chalk it up to fate. 

I hurried over the the Hall of Fame in the pouring rain and accepted the soaking wet animal. We never found the owner, and the rest they say, is history. 

Your mom may disagree, but she has the sweetest demeanor and is the best animal I've ever had. 

I've got many more stories about her that I'm sure as you get older we'll tell you about. 

Your other pet, McGee, is a mix of tiger and minx. He's a hefty fellow with quite the personality.

Your mom and I took him in when we found him in a parking lot following a wedding reception on Valentine's Day 2007. 

We were just about to leave when we saw him dart underneath a car. An older couple was getting into the vehicle and we coaxed the cat out from underneath fearing that if we didn't he would be run over. 

We couldn't just leave him there. We're suckers. So we asked the people that were outside smoking if he belonged to any of them. After being assured that he didn't and that he had been hanging around all night, we decided to bring him home and see if we could find the owner. 

We placed an add on Craigslist and with no claims to ownership, we scheduled an apointment with Doc Hickman to have him declawed and neutered. He was staying with us. 

One interesting story that did come from the online ad was that someone recognized him as one half of a pair that they had given away. The couple that took him and his sister only wanted his sister but they insisted the two go as a pair. The only logical conclusion was that he was dumped and they kept his sister. We asssured this person that he was in good hands. 

He's been with us ever since.

You now know the backstory to how your two friends came to be with us. 

A few weeks ago I downloaded a game for the cats on the iPad and they loved it. Last night, I placed the iPad on the floor and let Cookie play. 

You happened to be right beside the iPad and the game caught your attention as well. I found out that your reaction time is quicker than Cookies. I say it's your youth compared to her age that gave you the benefit. 

Have a look: