Cat birthdays!

Since Molly, Miette and Wicca are all adopted animals, Somara and I just picked an arbitrary date for their birthdays. Based upon the data we were given on Molly from the shelter and the vets’ judgments of Miette’s and Wicca’s teeth, this is the best date we could use. 
 
Wicca is now 15. According to Somara, she was found in 1991, abandoned and taken in by another mother cat. I’m sure Somara can post all the corrections about Wicca’s early life. She is still pretty spry and vocal at her age. According to the charts in our vet’s office, Wicca’s age is equivalent to a human in her upper 70s. 
 
Molly is now 7. The shelter didn’t have many details about her past life other than the previous owners not wanting her around anymore. She had given birth to one previous litter before being fixed and from her alpha behavior, I don’t think she was a good mother. As a pet, Molly rocks. Like Wicca, she’s very vocal, attentive but more assertive. When she came home on her first day, she made it clear to Wicca she was the boss and has asserted it with the other two we added. Despite Molly’s dominance, she’s actually the most patient with children, she isn’t afraid of strangers and when she’s really in the zone with her purring, she drools, which quickly dispels her tough image. According to the vet’s chart, her age is equivalent to a human in her mid 40s now. 
 
Miette is the biggest mystery so we just put her at the same age as Molly, 7. Lately, I have suspected that she’s younger because she used to be a feral cat and her body always lacked the side effects of giving birth. Cats living in the wild reproduce at an alarming rate too. I seriously doubt she belonged to anyone, Miette was horribly underfed when I met her and there are feral cats who are too friendly for their own good. Originally we were going to find her a home after the success of a previously rescued cat we named Mongo. I was also going to stay with the Blazing Saddles theme and name her Lily. Somara vetoed it so I chose Miette after the little girl thief in City of Lost Children. It was a more fitting name since she quickly demonstrated her ability to rip open bags of cat food. Miette is a great pet too. Her personality is very different from the other two; she tends to keep to herself most of the day, then she’ll go through intervals of demanding attention (putting an iBook in your lap is a magnet for her) and she will stay near strangers, but they’re not allowed to touch her. Small, noisy children will receive a bop on the nose as my niece Madison discovered several years ago. 
 
In many ways, these three are our children and I couldn’t imagine my life without them. Somara may be making them a tuna-based treat to celebrate. Of course, to them, it’s just another day to take naps, play with the toys and let us know when it’s time to eat.