When Cats and Babies Collide

This was from our trip to Rhode Island. Belou was my cat from when before I was married. Greg is allergic to cats, so being with him meant saying goodbye to Belou. When we realized that the cat would have to go, I hoped, hoped, hoped that my parents would take him, so at least he'd stay in the family. I approached Operation Mom and Dad Take Belou carefully- equal amounts guilt, appreciation and promises to come over and clean the litter box. I wrote an outline, highlighting the finer points of Belou's company( toasty feet, sits with you while you eat breakfast, bug exterminator), and ended with " You don't have to tell me now, but please at least think about it"

Mom: yeah, give us 24 hours to...

Dad: oh no , we're taking Belou.

I knew my Dad could not resist an animal. This is the man who insisted we take all of our puppy Rufus' siblings- all three of them, so they wouldn't have to be separated( My mom said no)

So anyway, my parents moved to RI and now my Belou is 3 hours away.

I have introduced Madeline to the cat a few times, she seemed to have no interest... that is until this past visit. And Belou seemed quite enamored of her as well- though I could tell from his face rubbing and tail swinging that I needed to stand by.

The picture above had Madeline in delighted shock- I wish I had caught the expression after he rubbed up against her face... When she sees a picture of Belou at home , her face lights up and she purrs( really she spits, but she's trying to purr).