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Chewy (full name Chewbacca, named by Ted) is the first cat I ever owned. My dad didn't like cats growing up so we didn't have any. Ted did have
cats during his childhood. I always liked cats, but didn't think they were really good pets, not like dogs. I thought they didn't interact with people
much, didn't have much personality, and weren't "affectionate". Chewy has really proved me wrong and now I am a real cat lover.
We got Chewy from the SPCA on January 10, 1999. We went to the SPCA and they had a whole litter of kittens there. Ted picked Chewy up and he
cuddled right into Ted and went to sleep, and so Ted was smitten. I was also impressed and thought that meant Chewy would be an affectionate
cuddley kitten. So we brought him home right away. They said he was 2 months old, but he looked very small to me. Anyway, perhaps it was correct,
which would put his birthday around November 10th 1998.
Well, we were sort of wrong about the cuddling thing. I don't know why Chewy seemed so affectionate at the SPCA. Maybe he was just scared. At
home he turned into quite the little terror. He hid from, hissed and spit at, our dog Tigger for the first couple days. Tigger was very patient and well-behaved
in spite of his curiousity about the fiesty little critter, we were very proud of him. It didn't take too long before they were good friends and
would cuddle up together. We did not sleep very well for the first couple of months we had Chewy, it was kind of like having a new baby! This guy
was definitely nocturnal. In the night he would race around and want to play and pounce on us when we were lying in bed. If we tried to shut him out
of the bedroom he would cry and scratch at the door. He also liked to use his claws while playing. We learned very quickly that we just couldn't play
with him with our hands or feet, or they would get pretty scratched up. He could entertain himself for hours playing with twist ties or pieces of string.
In spite of being so cuddley at the SPCA, we could not pick Chewy up or cuddle him at all once we got home. He would only let us pick him up when
he felt like it, and that wasn't very often!
Now that Chewy is older, his affectionate ways have returned. He is a much more mellow kitty now. He is still sort of nocturnal (he sleeps most of
the day and is up around at night) but he doesn't very often bother us at night anymore. He does sometimes decide he's in the mood for lovin' in
the middle of the night and then will come around purring and "kneading" us. He is also very affectionate when we are watching TV or on the
computer. He does this funny very cute thing when he is feeling affectionate, it is like he wants to pet us, he puts his paw up to touch our
our cheek and stuff like that. He also purrs a lot and drools while he is purring!
I think Chewy was really happy when we brought home a little sister for him, our second cat Jewel. Having someone
around who knew how to play "kitty games" was good for him. He used to try to play with the dogs but they didn't really "get it". I think I would
always like to have two cats rather than one, it is not so much more work (like two dogs, which was a LOT more work than one, especially
when the second is a crazy husky) and they are good for each other.
Click here for Chewy's Picture Album.
Click here for Other Pet Pictures.
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