In all my 24 years I never have been a cat person. I have had three dogs: a loving Pomeranian, a quirky Papillon and an energetic Dachshund. My current fur baby Klaus is my 2 year old Dachshund. Klaus has a bark louder than a lawnmower and cuddles in my arms like a baby.
From an early age I thought cats had the nature of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, sitting on your lap one minute, digging those claws in the next. Cats always felt wilder and more unpredictable in nature in comparison to dogs. I always felt dogs were also more capable of showing love, being pack animals at heart. I was wrong.
On a recent trip to Bali and I witnessed the systemic issue of stray cats and dogs running around the island. My heart sank seeing so many animals without a home and somebody to love them. The Balinese have an interesting relationship with strays feeding the animals scraps of food, despite having nothing themselves, living together in peace in a place of paradise and poverty.
A stray ginger cat lived near the premises of our hotel living off the scraps of gourmet food and sunbaking in the hot Indonesian sun (not a bad way to live honestly). Every morning he would meow at me and roll onto his belly to ask for a pat. I had never had such a positive experience with a cat, I ended up feeling like I wanted to bring him home to Australia.
The other day I went to my local pet store to get some dental chews for my dog. I was walking down the different aisles when at the back of the room I saw a small 16-week-old kitten up for adoption. He had had a pure white coat with grey on his tail and ears. He was so playful and had the most beautiful golden eyes. It was love at first sight. My partner and I then made the wild decision to have Klaus our dog meet the tiny kitten.
Later that afternoon we returned to the vet, and I felt nervous about how the animals would interact. The small kitten greeted us with a small meow before we went into the consultation room for the animals to meet. The cat moved with confidence towards Klaus and even went up to sniff him. Klaus was very nervous to be at the vet, but he showed only curiosity towards the kitten. I was stunned the pair seemed to somewhat get along. I have always wanted to rescue and adopt an animal being an animal lover. I also loved the idea of Klaus having a friend for when Andy and I were away from our house.
We took only a day to decide we wanted to adopt him. Our kitten’s name is Jovi, and he sleeps on my lap while I am working, and he loves to chase anything that moves. Jovi and Klaus are still getting to know and learn about one another. Every day I always get a laugh when Jovi rubs against Klaus and Klaus tries to play with Jovi like he is a puppy. I am so happy Jovi has joined our family and I officially now think of myself as a dog and cat person.
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