by Ellen Kudlicki

Created on: April 14, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

In the small cosmos I inhabit the world was traditionally divided into "dog" people and "cat" People. "Dog" people were often portrayed, in my mind, as exhibiting the traditional traits associated with canines-faithfulness, obedience, enthusiasm. While cats can show these attitudes, more often than not, they choose not to. And that in a nutshell explains the critical difference between dogs and cats.

Before you chastise me, please understand, I have a houseful of "found" pets. There's the rabbit that someone abandoned in the park next to my house. There's the conure that we suspect was being smuggled in to the country, who we found flying around on a cold January day with a flock of red-winged blackbirds. There's the chinchilla formerly owned by a science teacher who had to abandoned him due to a nasty divorce-related move. And last but not least, there is our very spoiled and devoted Golden German Shepherd, who was a "free" dog that we took into our home. So we aren't adverse to having a variety of pets, it's just that cats somehow never fit into the mix.

There were other issues to consider as well. My husband is terribly allergic to cats. My sister in law has at least two cats, possibly more. When we visit their house, all that he has to do is walk in the door and in five minutes his eyes are tearing, his nose is running and he is miserable. While I like animals, my husband is more important and has been around a lot longer, so his wants do get considered in the vast scheme of things.

So we were totally unprepared for our "grandkitty", Rorschach, nicknames Rory. My daughter had just moved into a townhouse and was honestly looking for some furry little thing to love. Frankly it had been a rough year. She had injured her back-a major trauma for anyone but especially so for a dance major-and was between boyfriends, so something to cuddle was needed. As she drove down Dallas Boulevard in Denton by a vacant lot near a drainage ditch, she spotted a small black and white blur. As she stopped the fuzzy thing approached her car and fearful that it would dash into the busy street and be killed, my daughter opened the door. One thing you should know about my daughter, she thinks she is Mother Nature. If she could go to the ASPCA and adopt every animal in there, she would. So although raised only around dogs, seeing this small pathetic creature, she would not turn away.

The tiny kitten was covered in fleas. And the kitten was VERY tiny. Not knowing how to take car of such

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