It was a sunny spring day when I got my beloved cats. After a delicious lunch at Cafe Europa, my two sisters, me and my mom made the trip to Wayside Waifs. Our plan was to go home with one orange tabby cat, but plans changed. It took all of five minutes before my mom spotted “the ones” and we asked the volunteer to take them out so we could hold them. They were two little orange tabbies, and the best part was that they were brothers. They looked scared out of their minds, but their sweet paws and little pink noses had me sold. My mom insisted she only wanted one, but the volunteer was better at convincing us that because they were brothers, it would be best if we didn’t separate them. They were taken out of an abusive situation and taken to the shelter just a few months before. On the way home, one of them stuck their tiny head out of a small hole in the box. My sister freaked out and attempted to help to coax the cat to stick its head back in. We took them home and kept them in my sister’s room for a while until they were ready to go around the whole house. We were so excited to experience our first kittens but little did we know, we were in for some crazy adventures. We settled with the names Lionel Richie after the iconic singer and Hibiscus Clover, after the flower. Truly strange names, but they ended up making a great duo…most of the time. In my eyes, cats are a true gift in my life, so when people claim they “hate” cats, I’m slightly perplexed.

Cats are known to be cold, unfriendly animals, whereas dogs are better companions and far more lovable. This view of the feline species has been formulated through past historical such as the Salem witch trials. Heretics suspected of witchcraft were often identified by the fact that they owned a cat. Thus, on Halloween or in general, cats are seen as bad omens. I don’t think these past claims made on cats should be a reason to believe they are not lovable, amazing animals.

My cats honestly make me so happy. Whether it’s Lionel’s weird need to hold my hand or Hibiscus’ skittish behavior. I cannot explain how happy they make me when I come home from a long day at school and they sit down next to me while I plow through the endless amount of homework.

Don’t get me wrong, cats are loved by many, but I do think some of the past myths about cats should not be taken into account today. After all, everybody loves a good, amusing cat video from time to time. After having my cats for several years now, we’ve been through several incidents including a loss of Hibiscus’ tail, Lionel’s incident that ended with a hole in his stomach and an attempt to dogsit with them around. Through it all, they have become such blessings in my life, and even though they can be irritating just like any other pet, I wouldn’t trade them for anything.