Am I so strange?
My sister was (teasingly) laughing at me on Christmas Eve. Normally, in my house, I have about 10 cats, 2 of whom are old queens in their 20's. One is 20; one is 24. We also have a 2-yr old "puppy" who is about 90 pounds of all kinds of hound mix. The cats who want it get mushy food; the others who want it get kibble. All Fancy Feast, or better, depending on what they'll eat at the time. The oldsters get what a little bit better mix depending on their current needs. Yes, we cater to the cats.
To ensure the dog doesn't eat all the cat food, the cats have a separate room in the back of the house all to themselves, tho in the winter it's cold and I don't like the older cats to go back there. So, I keep a separate large bowl of kibble filled at all times in the middle of the kitchen table. Note... the "kitchen table" is not a place we eat. It's not a place *anyone* eats, except for the cats! (LOL) WE eat in the family room. When we hold gatherings, etc., food is all over the place. Cats leave it alone, they have their own. Friends are all over the house. (vaxxed and boosted, of course)
Okay, you get the picture. Now, my sister comes thru the house, laughing and meets me in the hall between the back and front of house saying "most people have a bowl of fruit in the center of their kitchen table. Only my sister has a bowl of cat kibble in the center of hers." She wasn't being mean. She meant it good heartedly, she knows I'd do anything for my cats. But it got me wondering... am I really so weird? I mean, there IS a plastic tablecloth between the bowl and the table, in case I did want to use it for anything else. My hubby and I are alone in this old house with just our critters most of the time; we never gave it a thought. I guess we've become crazy critter people? Anyone else out there resemble us?
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I'm beginning to think a kind heart is gonna be the death of me. My heart has never ached so hard in my life. I'm so tired of the fascists, the meanness around us. The guy across the alley from me has the most wonderful, beautiful lilac point Siamese cat, for example. Mr. Kitty LOVES to come over here to visit us. The guy lets him free roam. Doesn't keep him in the house. Doesn't take care of him, AFAIAC. His back is all matted. He comes over here, slips into my porch to get warm, get some treats and strokes and love. When we got our dog, before I put up our 6' fence, I caught him trying to cross the alley and raced over to take him back to his yard to keep him from an over-exuberant Lexy. The guy comes screaming obscenities out of his backdoor like he's going to attack me. I called the cops on him. One 6 foot fence and $5000 poor later, I feel a little safer. But Mr Kitty now comes to my front door. One of these days I swear he'll learn to ring the bell! 
But I'm so tired of people hurting animals. Of people hurting people. It hurts to even think about it. I used to work in a library. I was IT. I love books. Look at what OK is doing with their own version of an SB8 bill. And Corps wanting to privatize libraries. Damn. The commons is almost gone now. The age of Aquarius is almost here. This is NOT how I saw us welcoming it in, all those many years ago back in the '60's. Did you??
