Smokey & Bandit

The Wilsons have adopted two new kittens. Smokey and Bandit are about eight weeks old and the cutest things EVER! Smokey is a tiger-stripe, mostly dark gray and white with dark gray eyes. Bandit is a cream-colored Siamese with black ears, paws, tail and section from her nose to chin. They’re from the same litter, so they’re great pals. However, they and our golden retriever Scout need some more time to get used to one another. Though it’s not quite weeping and gnashing of teeth—only because we’ve kept them separated, we have witnessed much hissing and arching of backs. And the dog and cats get might upset, too.

Our former cats, that had lived with us for over 10 years, both wandered off (to die, probably) within the past couple of months. Though Tigger never was the same after Bret “accidentally” locked her in our tool shed. (Of course, I “accidentally” ran over Scout a couple of years ago, so who am I to talk.)

OK, the shed story, very quickly:
Last fall, about the time of the final mowing of the season, Bret drove the mower up the ramp into the tool shed where he stores it. Five days later, our son Reese was riding his bike on the driveway and turned around on the grass just beyond the large area where we have a basketball goal. He heard a soft meow and ran to get his dad to open the shed door. Out came an angry Tigger (the first time she wasn’t bouncy, trouncy, fun, fun, fun, fun, fun), who voiced her displeasure at being locked up for nearly a week. She soon decided the ranting wasn’t worth it and scooted to her water dish. Once refueled, she let our resident Alpha Male have it again.

Looking her over, she wasn’t too much the worse for wear. She had lost some weight, but she had a few pounds to spare, if you know what I’m saying. She was only a couple lasagnas short of being a Garfield before her voluntary (?) imprisonment. Tigger recovered nicely, but never regained her former Fat Cat status. After Rocky left, she didn’t seem to have a zest for life. She wasn’t technically a widow, but she’d certainly lost her best friend.

We miss them both; they were fun cats that served us well, patrolling and mousing for many years. But now we get to enjoy the crazy antics of a couple of new kitties, Smokey and Bandit. So far, they’re a hoot!