Our Cats, Our Hearts: Molly, Digger & Kat

“Home is where my cats are.”
  — Kat

When I was a senior in college I remember talking to my aunt and saying I missed having cats. We had gone a year or so without one and coming home on holidays and not having a cat to hang out with felt odd. So during Christmas break we looked for a cat. My aunt wanted to get two so they could keep each other company while she was at work and possibly cut down on the chance they would scratch furniture and not be bored. We also thought kittens would be fun since it had been over 14 years since there had been a kitten in the house. Winter is a hard time to find kittens but a woman in our neighborhood had a number of cats she fed and was looking for homes for most of them. They were fairly tame and a litter of 5 kittens had been born that September.

We met all the kittens and chose the two that looked alike. They had upper respiratory infections and Molly had an infection on her left front leg which went to the bone. She has had a limp her whole life from the bone deposit that formed. They were skinny little cats and very very shy. We ended up naming them Molly and Digger after The Molly Maguires and Diggers (both secret societies) because of the fact that they would hide during the day under a bed and come out at night and eat. It took a little over 2 weeks for them to come out and play during the day but they were always very wary of loud noises or strangers and would high tail it under the bed. This was nearly 14 years ago.

Over the years the two have become very attached to me and my family. They are almost dog like in how much they demand attention, make eye contact, and follow from room to room. However, at their core they are still shy of strangers but rather than hiding under a bed or in another room, they sit in a far corner and watch… as if studying the newcomer, deciding if they are worth a ‘sniff,’ and debating if they want a pet from that person. Their morning routine for as long as I can remember has been to jump on the bed as soon as the alarm goes off, meow, walk and paw at my face, and demand to be fed. Their nightly routine is to sit with me, give me kitty hugs, and doze off as I either watch tv, work on the computer, or read. In the time I have had them, I wanted them to be used to lots of handling so they are ok with teeth brushing, tail grabbing, ear cleaning, poking and prodding, and baths. This has helped make them be good patients at the vet. Molly and Digger have moved with me to several apartments and in 2010 they flew on a plane for the first time in their lives and are now cats of Portland, OR, from NYC. Home is where my cats are. They are my cats, not the family cats that I grew up with, but mine. They have been with me for almost 14 years and have been around through so many life changes of mine. I can’t imagine not having them in my life but also know that one day I won’t. However, even though each pet I’ve had was special, there is something about these two that hold a place in my life that is above and beyond.