Oh my, one, two, three.
How many kitty's do you see?

It was just before Christmas, 1997, that I felt the rush of the season to find the perfect gift. I realized that just two weeks earlier, I watched as John played with the persian kittens in a pet store we visited in Greenville, SC. I quickly rushed over to check out the little critters for myself. I was totally shocked when the sales girl informed me that the cute little fur balls cost more to purchase than I was willing to pay. Were they kidding??? $500???

My hopes of finding the perfect gift were quickly diminished. It wasn't but a few days later that I was sitting at work, on a Saturday, browsing the classifieds for a job, of all things. My eyes crossed over the section "Pets". I thought to myself how interesting it would be if I found some persian kittens for sale. As I suspected, there were several ads for the frisky little critters. I started calling them right away, but to my dissatisfaction, most of the kittens were already sold. I called the last ad in the paper and they said they had one left. I told them I would be there to look at it that day.

After my long morning at work, I rushed over to check out this 12 week old persian. She answered the door with the blackest, little fur ball I have ever seen. Instantly I was in love and I was on my way home with my new buddy. The tiny, little kitten was so scared. He was crying all the way home. Finally, when we got home, I tied a red bow around his neck and hid him in the bathroom just before John was to come over. It was the biggest surprise and I was so excited to give it to him.

John walked into the house and I asked him to sit on the couch and close his eyes. I quickly walked to the bathroom to recover the newest prized posession. I carefully put the kitten into a box and put a bow on top and quickly took it to John and placed it on his lap. I could hardly wait to see his reaction when he opened that box. As he did, I saw a huge smile spread across his face and we both laughed and admired how cute the little kitten was.

Oreo

We later decided to name him Oreo. It was fitting since he was a very black kitten and also, oreo's happen to be John's favorite store bought cookie. So Oreo it was. Oreo turned out to be the best kitten and we loved him very much. The first six months were so delightful with our new buddy around. He was such a special cat. He kept us entertained and made us laugh all the time.

I thought about how great it would be to get him a little play mate. Since Oreo turned out to be such a great cat, I decided to call the same breeder to see if the mother cat was expecting any more kittens soon. In fact, the breeder told me the mother cat was pregnant at the very time. The delivery time was supposed to be around Labor Day weekend. Soon after, I called to confirm a delivery. We decided at that time to buy two more. One for us and one to give as a gift to John's parent's for Christmas, 1998.

Tigger and Smokie

We went and picked up our two newest playmates and brought them home to meet their older brother. Oreo was not too pleased. In fact, the first week was full of growels and hisses. We had to protect the two kittens for awhile until Oreo was used to have a brother and sister around. After a week, it seemed like they were best buddies. Oreo soon became like a father figure to the kittens and we often found the kittens sucking on Oreo's paws. It was the cutest thing.

Tigger was the most precious kitty. Her beautiful, thick orange tabby coat was so soft. Her face was so small and so beautiful. Smokie was also a cute kitten. He has much shorter hair than Tigger or Oreo, but his coat is very soft and has turned a light beige color.

Christmas Surprise

Christmas came and we drove to Pennsylvania with three cats in the car. How fun! John's parents were delighted when they saw their new little pet. Tigger was the cutest kitten. Her perfect little face and dainty little body. She was so scared at first, but soon made her way around the house and made herself at home. We were so glad that the new addition to their house was a swift and easy transition for Tigger and her new parents.

It was hard for John and I to leave Tigger there because we had grown to love her and to be so attached to her, but we knew she was in a very loving home with two of the greatest parents.

Oreo, Smokie and Tigger have turned out to be the best investments we have made. The have brought us so much joy and happiness and we look forward to having them in our lives for many years to come. Owning a cat can sometimes be a big responsibility, especially when you have two, but it is well worth it. We found that persian's are a very good breed. If I ever buy another kitten, I would definately put my money down on another persian. They are very playful, loveable and affectionate. They always have to be in the same room with us. They even follow us into the bathroom and wait for us when we are in the shower. Smokie has this thing where he runs to the kitchen whenever John makes tuna fish sandwiches. Which is a daily event, I might add. It just so happens that Oreo has taken a preference to me, in a sense and Smokie.... well, Smokie worships the ground John walks on.

Of course mom and dad love Tigger. She is a constant entertainment for them. When we visited this June, it was very fun to see how the cats would react to each other after a 6 month seperation. At first, Tigger was very offended that two new cats entered the picture and she tried to defend her territory. Shortly after, however, the three of them were checking each other out and started playing again.

What can I say...we LOVE our cats!!!

--The End--