Over the past few weeks, two beautiful female cats have started visiting our backyard. They’re not afraid of the neighborhood dogs, and they come right up to people for cuddles. I wondered if they might belong to someone nearby, but one of them is a familiar face — a cat I’ve seen roaming freely around the neighborhood for a few years now. I think the whole community must be kindly watching over them.
Sometimes we give them a little food, or even play a bit of catch together. They’ve been coming almost every day, at around the same time, and I’ve completely fallen for them. My whole family has grown fond of these cats, and though we’d love to invite them inside, someone in our household has a cat allergy — so we’ve never had pets of our own.
When it rains, or when they don’t show up for a couple of days, I can’t help but worry — have they stopped coming? My kids get restless too, waiting for their little visitors. It’s made me realize that this feeling we get when we care about them — this warmth, this worry, this joy — this is what love for animals feels like.
Even though we can’t have pets right now, this experience has been such a special one for our children.
Do you have your own beloved little family members — a dog, a cat, maybe a hamster?