My other child of the four legged variety

I've decided today to talk about my other baby. Not the four year old or the one I'm growing in my stomach, but the furry one that likes to wake me up at 7 in the morning by sitting on my pillow and purring. Yes, I'm talking about my little (term used loosely) kitty, Dora.


I love my kitty. Probably not as much as this lady http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTTwcCVajAc but Dora has become a part of this family, my "other child".

How we "acquired" Dora is a story in itself. Because we did not go to a shelter, pet store, or breeder to find her. She came and found us. It was February of 2010, it had just snowed again (in a country that we were told didn't snow or if it did, didn't happen often) and Jeremy was TDY. I was at a friend's house on RAF Feltwell when I heard a kitten crying from outside. After being told I was crazy I opened her front door to find this wet little kitty.



I took her in but my friend's dog Demon scared the living day lights out of her, so she ran away. All the way into the arms of the neighbor who brought her back because we were chasing her (yes, in the snow). When I brought her inside, Savannah looked away from watching her show and said "Mommy, its a Dora!" pointing to the wet kitten. Thus, the name Dora stuck.

We dried her off and gave her food, which she sucked down in a matter of minutes. We then took her to the vets to see if she was mirco-chipped. We found out that she wasn't chipped, nor was she fixed. After posting ads for a found kitty for seven days, she was legally ours.

After chipping her, updating her shots (which ment starting from scratch since she had no record), and fixing her, she became a permanent part of the family.

But I noticed one thing after she settled in. She went from being under weight to becoming "fluffy" around the edges. I took that as a positive sign, eating and all. Until I found her little butt digging through the trash for chicken.

Or sitting at the table begging for my ribs (that only take three hours to cook!). Mind you she sits in MY spot..

So she started getting exercise by going outside. Here in England they don't have screens on their windows or doors so come summer time, when you open your windows to cool off the cat gets out. She owned the neighborhood. But one day, while we went for our family walk (usually after dinner), we heard the familiar jiggle. I turned and there was Dora. She stayed and followed behind us on our entire walk. The next night, same thing happened again, she followed us on our walk. One day she got brave and followed Savannah and I almost to her school!


This silly little cat loves to take family walks. But it only makes sense, since she IS family. I didn't know what we were missing in our family but she did, and that is why she came to us!