Our outdoor brood expanded by two a few weeks ago. It may seem a little unorthodox, but we brought home two little kittens for our dog, Cache. Remember Cache? It’s been over a year since I shared his puppy photos. You can read about him here. He is your typical crazy hyper border collie, but we love him. And fortunately he is finally overcoming his fear of cows!

So let my tell you all about why we decided Cache needed a kitten. Last fourth of July, we were enjoying the parade in town with my sister and her family. As we were sitting, a black kitten came wandering down the sidewalk. He was cute, but completely malnourished! He was a rack of bones and looked a bit rough. My sister’s kids played with him and wanted to take him home to our house, since it was obvious nobody was feeding or caring for him.

Enter Salem.

I really don’t care much for cats. I love kittens, but cats are cats. They really can be such selfish, disloyal creatures, but Salem was different. I imagine it was partially the fact that we saved his life as we nourished him back to health. I think he knew and appreciated it. He really was such a sweet kitty! Salem loved to be held and snuggled, he didn’t paw or scratch. And the best part about this whole ordeal was he and Cache became the best of pals. They loved each other. A lot. Cache would lick Salem’s face until it was sopping wet and Salem loved it. We would often find them curled up together on Cache’s doggy bed outside. 

Cache started spending way less time with the other dogs around the ranch and hung out up at our house much more. It was so funny to see these two unlikeliest of pals, but pals the became and pals they remained until one day, Salem was nowhere to be found :(. We looked and looked, but he remains unaccounted for to this day. Cache lost his best friend and I’m convinced we lost the nicest cat in the world.

Fast forward to this spring, when we decided it was time to find another pal for Cache.  My sister and her kids had been staying with us and she found a listing for kittens nearby so we went and checked them out. Enter Salem (the second) and Merlin. I never had any intention whatsoever of bringing home two kittens, bur when I saw them I just couldn’t help myself. Another full black kitten, just like our first Salem was what I wanted. So we pulled out a black kitten and then I caught sight of the most adorable black and white splotched kittens I had ever seen. I told my sister I just had to have one of them too.

Really, who could say no to that face?

Ya, not me. My Cowboy pretended he didn’t approve when I came home with two kittens, instead of one, but he is totally full of it. Who did he smuggle in the house for company while he watched a nighttime movie while I was out of town a couple weeks ago? You know, the kittens. Salem is the black kitten. Merlin is the black and white kitten. And yes, this picture is totally characteristic of Salem. He is kinda feisty! Merlin is more laid back and content to snuggle. He purrs super loudly and begins to do so instantly upon being picked up or petted. 

Since my sister and her kids were around a few weeks, these kittens received plenty of love and snuggles as they adjusted to their new home. Kittens were a big part of our childhood. When you live in the country, it isn’t uncommon for cats to hole up somewhere remote on your property and favor you with a litter of kittens. This happened at our place a lot. We didn’t keep many of them, but we often had kittens to snuggle and hold so it was something we often did together as sisters! You know, while the brothers made evil, snarky comments about drowning them or some other nonsense to make this baby girl of the family fear for the kitties lives.

Boys are so mean! Not this boy though, he loves the kittens.

And that face. I love it.

So this picture is totally almost the exact same as a few others but I had to share it because, doesn’t Merlin’s face look evil? That was how he looked when I first saw him too. I thought he looked evil and the previous owner called him Cruella de Vil. Looks can be deceiving though, because he is pretty sweet and most definitely the nicest of the two!

Salem on the other hand…

You know it, you need some kittens too.

I may not like cats much when they grow up, but they kill mice and mice are my enemy, so I am happy to have one or two around. Now I think I’ll go find my kittens and snuggle.

xoxo,

Hannah