Had an interesting conversation with a client at the cats only boarding facility this morning. The woman’s two cats had been pretty much model citizens — they ate well, loved attention, and kept everyone entertained with playroom antics.
So we told her how much we loved having her cats come stay with us. She beamed, then told us a story about her last veterinarian visit with the cats.
The vet had been talking about cat people. (But I think this applies to all pet owners, really.) How people will have many different cats over the course of a lifetime. One cat out of the bunch will be a really amazing cat. An awesome cat. And the vet said that this lady was incredibly lucky to have TWO awesome cats at the same time.
I love Moose and Lally. They make me laugh, they make sure I’m never alone, and they keep me going on bad days. But my first dog Miko was my awesome one. No doubt about it.
Miko and I bonded from the first time he jumped into my lap and stuck his tongue up my nose. I was the only person to ask to meet him (and he was at the shelter for three months). There were times when it seemed like he could read my mind. Miko obeyed my commands without any training. I could trust him to walk off-leash and come back at a whistle.
Sure, he had his flaws. The dog tooted up a storm when he was nervous. He didn’t always like to cuddle because he got too hot. And he was kind of smelly.
But he was the awesome one for me. I joke that Miko was so great it took me two dogs (Moose and Lally) to replace him. If I’m lucky, I’ll have another awesome dog in my life someday. But if not? I’m happy just to have had him.