Hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July! I was blessed to spend it with family, and we had a big awesome dinner party at my parents’ house. Two of my blog recipes made it on the Independence Day menu – my Stuffed Bacon Turkey Burgers with Avocado Ranch Dressing! The juicy burgers were the highlight of the meal, stuffed with cheese, loaded with bacon, and slathered with loads of my avocado ranch! YUM.
As much as I could go on and on about how good our 4th of July meal was, today’s post really isn’t about food at all. It’s about the newest additions to the Fed and Fulfilled family!
Introducing our friendly felines: Leo and Cosmo! I hope you can handle all this cuteness. 🙂
It might go without saying, but I’m a total cat person. Maybe not quite a “crazy cat lady,” but close.
For most of my life, I’ve grown up with cats. My parents adopted two Siamese kittens right around my 7th birthday as a gift for me. Siamese cats get a bad rap (thanks to Lady and the Tramp) but I PROMISE you that those cats were the best birthday present I could have asked for. In fact, I was so excited about our new kittens that I wanted to skip my own birthday party so I could stay home and play with them! 
We named them Matthew and Marilla (Anne of Green Gables, anyone?) and they were the most loyal, affectionate, and fun cats imaginable. Marilla was extra special to me because she tucked me in every night and slept on my bed from the time I was in middle school until she got too old to climb the stairs. She lived for 20 solid years! I never thought losing a pet would feel like losing a family member, but it did. I’m really hoping that all cats go to heaven and that Marilla will be waiting for me there someday!
Since losing sweet Marilla at age 27, I’ve really missed having a lovable feline friend around the house. Mark has always been more of a dog person, so I never dreamed he would agree to adopting a cat (or two)! Yet, he never ceases to amaze me with his thoughtfulness and mentioned that getting a cat might be a good 31st birthday present for me this year. (!!!) I’m pretty sure I jumped up and down like I did when I got my first cats at age 7.
The original plan was to find one cat, but since I had grown up with two and saw how well they played together and kept each other company, Mark agreed that two might work better than one.
We found Cosmo first, but adopted him last. I spotted him at a local pet store along with his little gray sister kitten. I thought they would make a perfect pair for us, but unfortunately, Cosmo’s sister got adopted before we had a chance to snatch them up. Cosmo was equally as sweet as his sister, but his black coat seemed to be a turn-off for most people. Not for us. We considered taking Cosmo home that day, but I was pretty set on adopting siblings.
So, with heavy hearts, we left Cosmo behind and looked elsewhere. I had searched a local shelter’s website for available kittens and we found another brother and sister that looked promising. Unfortunately, by the time we went to visit them, one of them had already been adopted! Not again!
Our bad luck ended quickly when we discovered a nearby pet store and saw Leo’s sweet little striped face peering at us through his cage. He stood out immediately – colorful furry coat, spunky personality, and huge paws! Leo had a brother kitten with him, but his brother didn’t like us much. That made me think that perhaps adopting siblings wasn’t meant to be.
After cuddling and playing with Leo, I knew he was the kitten for us, so we adopted him on the spot. Leo is such a little snuggler and lap cat. (My dream!) We named him Leo for two reasons – he reminded us of a little lion cub and Leo is the lion constellation in astrology. Leo also just so happens to be my horoscope sign, since I have a July birthday. I mentioned his huge paws- each has 6 toes, making him a polydactyl cat! Totally just adds to his cuteness factor!
But what about a second kitten? Should Leo have a playmate?
Those questions kept nagging us as we drove Leo home. Our minds then drifted back to a curious little black cat with golden eyes who had just lost his sister.
The very next day, we went back and adopted Cosmo. He looked like a “Cosmo” to us because his black fur with teeny spot of white reminded us outer space (“cosmos“) and his zany, adventurous personality made us think of Cosmo Kramer from Seinfeld! 🙂 
We were excited for our kittens to meet and assumed Cosmo and Leo would be instant buddies. WRONG! Cosmo was not a happy camper. Having never owned non-sibling felines, this was all new to me! Mark and I went into panic mode and wondered if two cats was a good idea or a horrible one. Fortunately, we were reassured by our experienced cat-owner family members that this was normal behavior when kittens don’t know each other.
We kept our cats separate and introduced them slowly over a few days. And lo, and behold, they not only tolerated each other but they became best friends! It has been so precious seeing them eat, play, and sleep together. True kitty companions!
While it seems rather impossible to ever have a cat I could love as much as Marilla, I think these two little guys will come pretty close! Cosmo and Leo have already brought a lot of laughter and joy to our home in what has been a challenging season. I have heard people say how cats (and pets, in general) are not only good company, but also good therapy! It’s so true!
I’ve noticed that these cute little kittens have already helped ease some of the anxiety and stress that I had shared about in a previous post. They also make day-to-day activities more interesting, that’s for sure!
In fact, Leo is joining me right now as I type this post! And he may have even tried to type a few things himself. Like this —> 2rrFT2112q7bn
Whether you are a cat-lover like me or not, I hope you’ve enjoyed meeting our kittens as much as I have enjoyed sharing them with you! They might appear from time to time on the blog, especially when they start playing around and getting in the way of my food photo shoots! 😉
Have a restful weekend, show your pets some extra love, and check back here next week for a new recipe!
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