My Dust Mop Kitty

This is Max. He is a Maine coon cat about two years old. Max is the only one of my pets (three cats and two dogs) who is not a rescue animal. Max was the runt of his litter so he remains smaller than the norm for a coon cat, about 15 pounds. He hates to be groomed but allows it if I either put the "cone of shame"on him or if I use my own hairbrush. Where we live there are no fleas so I don't have to worry about that and my cats are strictly indoor cats, but lots of people think I am a little nuts for brushing the cat with my brush. Not being a fashion plate and swimming and showering daily relieve me of any worry but it probably is a little weird. Without brushing Max would be a mass of dreadlocks so I don't have any other choice except shaving him and he hates that.

We have two other cats, Tom and Barn. Tom is a mostly Siamese who is the friendliest cat in the world even though his childhood was a little rough. Barn, a grey and black tabby, was abandoned at the horse barn where my daughter-in-law keeps her horses. He rules the animals around here, keeping everyone in line. The canines in our house are studies in opposites. We have Tucker, a rat terrier, who is about the same size as Max. He was physically abused when he was young so he takes a while to warm up to strangers, especially men. Once he becomes your friend he is dogged in trying to get you to play fetch. Our other dog is a bluetick coonhound named Watson. He is a 75 pound lump of love who also had a rough time when he was young. Someone bought him to be a hunting dog, specifically to hunt cougars in the mountains around here. Because that was his intended future, he lived outside in a concrete dog run without a name and without socialization  with humans at all.  Well, as the saying goes, that dog don't hunt. When his owner realized that his expensive coonhound had no interest in chasing anything bigger than a squirrel he simply shoved him out into the snow. By the time he was taken to the shelter he weighed about 50 pounds even though he was full grown. Now he is fully housebroken, loves cats, and is a gentle house pet. He does have separation anxiety when we leave him alone and he will go to great lengths to get food, but he is just a trusting soul.