Hell-NO kitty

Raise your hand if you like dogs.  (Pause for hand raising.)  Raise your hand if you like cats.   (Again, a pause.)  Raise your hand if you dislike dogs.  (I can see those of you not participating in the hand raising.)  Now raise your hand if you dislike cats - AH!  How dare you?!?  I saw that...

Ever since I was little, it was no secret that I was a cat lover.  Funny, because our first family pets were two Shetland Sheepdogs, and as a child I was exposed to very few cats other than the ones that invaded my room in stuffed toy form or appeared on my childhood wardrobe (we're talking purple cat dresses and sparkly pink cheetah sweatshirts folks.)  Cat characters dominated my early self-illustrated books with titles such as Sally and Supercat, Catland, and Key the Special Kitten.  And at the vulnerable age of 13 I finally had a real live cat of my own, the beautiful tuxedo cat, the one and only, Cleocatra.

Now I don't expect you readers out there to foster a love of cats as borderline obsessive as mine, however I am here to say to those of you cat-dislikers out there:  give cats a chance!  Not all cats are created equal, and while I do understand that there exist a handful of aloof, mean, couch-potato cats out there, there are also sweet kitties populating the earth, just waiting for you to scoop them up and cuddle them.  Now, there are valid reasons to not like an animal - perhaps you were attacked by one as a child and you still have traumatic memories.  Stop being a pussy and get over it.  Perhaps you are allergic.  I'm allergic to almost everything outside, but does that stop me from enjoying the glories of nature?  No it doesn't.  Suck it up and pet a cat.  You might like it.  And if you are still unconvinced, I implore you to come and meet our cats, particularly Footsie, pictured below:

Footsie is quite possibly the most awesome cat you'll ever meet.  He waits at the door for you to come home.  He gives kisses.  He eats your cereal.  He drinks beer.  He has 13 toes total on his two front paws.  He cuddles.  And he's a really good listener.  To the cat-opposed people out there, this is my last effort to convince you - if you met Footsie I guarantee you'd change your mind.

I'm aware that this may be my most controversial blog yet.  Please feel free to comment and join in my fight against the anti-kitty everywhere.  Meow!