Three amazing things we learned from our pets

Have you ever noticed that when you start sharing stories with another pet lover (I assume that you also love your pets as you seem to enjoy telling stories about them) several hours may pass without you realizing it?

That's exactly what happens when I meet up with friends who also have pets and we start updating each other on what's been happening with our animal companions at home.  We share our joy, the warmth, and sometimes sad feelings when our pets get sick. 

We decided to have our very first pet cats when my eldest daughter came home after visiting her grandmother, carrying with her a huge box as her surprise for us.  When we opened the box, we discovered two beautiful kittens - one was all black and the other one was all white.  Black and white!!!  

The first time I left for a 2-week training in Bukidnon, that was also the first time my two daughters will be left by themselves to take care of the 2 kittens.  When I came back, they suddenly remarked, "Ma, we just learned that we need to feed the kittens pala.  All the while we thought they just grow up the way they should."  I just smiled when I heard this because sure enough, each day when I get home from work, these two girls always had new stories to tell about their experience with the new tiny kittens who came to conquer our home. 

A few months later and after several visits to the vet, my eldest daughter commented that having pets is not for everyone.  She added that there is so much responsibility attached to our decision to have pets at home. It also changed their daily schedule as one of them need to be home to feed the 2 kittens at particular times of the day.  There were changes indeed in our daily routines but this was something all of us embraced openly and without any second thoughts. 

Since that day Turkey (the black cat) and Wabbit (the white cat) came to live with us, they have taught us a lot of lessons on how to care for and live with them.  For this blog post, these three things I am sharing with you are what you may consider 'tip of the iceberg' among the many wonderful things our pets have taught us and continue to be teaching us.

1.  Lady dogs can give birth to puppies of different 'dads'.  Yes, in one same litter.

The first time, Ducky gave birth to 5 puppies.

For a long time we've been wondering why Ducky's litter had different features.  Well, they didn't look exactly like her. There were 3 'white ones' and 2 'brown ones', as you can see in the photo above.

We learned from one of our neighbors that female dogs have 'separate compartments' in their reproductive system and that, according to her, allows them to carry babies formed with more than one male dog.  I am not sure how true this is but there was another friend who mentioned the same thing.

2.  Among male cats (we got 6 of them at home), the one who becomes the 'alpha male' is not only the strongest and biggest in size but also grows a stronger jaw muscle and neck.

Turkey, our first black cat, used to be the recognized leader among our pet cats.  He has his way of instilling discipline among them, taught them how to use the litter box, where to drink water, and many other things that really amazed us.  We even called him 'Turkey Sensei' because he revealed to us an intelligence that's so hard to describe with words.  He passed away more than a year ago.

After Turkey, Mowgli asserted to be the alpha male.  Nobody seemed to question this for a long time (except one cat named Yoda).  Mowgli soon grew bigger and his jaws also became stronger and more rounded.  

 

Yoda was named "Yoda" because when he was still a kitten he couldn't hold his head up very well and keeps babbling his head instead. He looked so frail that I was often protective of him whenever Mowgli dares him for a fight.

Over the past months, Yoda continued to defend himself to Mowgli's assertion as the alpha male. The photo below shows these two cats having  one of these episodes.

Mowgli (standing on the roof) and Yoda having a 'growling' argument at dusk.

Then recently I noticed that Yoda does not seem to be afraid of Mowgli anymore.  I can hear him fighting back...and was soon starting to assert himself, too.  He became bigger (while Mowgli became somewhat slimmer in size) and started to have bigger jaw as well.

3.  Cats, and dogs, are very sensitive to human emotions and  well-being.

Whenever I get sick with a high fever, I wake up in the middle of the night to find at least 5 of our 10 pet cats sleeping or lying around me.  They make me feel warm and secured. 

Now here's another story.  Wabbit, our white cat, loves to stay outdoors.  After eating his meal, you will often find him walking around the neighborhood or sitting on top of our neighbor's firewall.  This is why I am always surprised when he suddenly jumps on top of my table (while I am working at home) and lie down right beside the laptop. But this only happens when I really feel so sad.  Well, amidst my busy schedule, I also get the blues every now and then.  Wabbit wouldn't  leave this spot until I assure him that I am feeling okay.

While I am writing this blog post Wabbit has been sitting on my lap, listening to the music by Allison Kraus.  I guess he could sense that I am writing about him here. I wonder if other pets are also like our pets here at home.