Jake and Bathsheba

I love my babies, my two furry kids, my dear Jake and Bathsheba. I cannot imagine life without them because Mark Twain was right when he said that a house is not a home without cats. They are SO difference, yet both so special to me. Jake is easygoing and easy to love, while Bathsheba is feisty and high strung.

Jake is soft and silky and oh, so cuddly. He has a wonderful purr motor and doesn’t hesitate to turn it on. He doesn’t mind being picked up and cuddled, but beware. If he is stroked when he is in my bare arms, he forgets that they are naked flesh when he “makes biscuits” on my arms – oww. He just gets a little over-exuberant.


I fostered Jake’s mother for a week or two—before we even knew she was pregnant with Jake and his three siblings—and I decided that I would take one of the kittens to add to my two-girl-kitty home. Jake got along great with my senior kitty Precious, but Bathsheba never accepted the little interloper.

I lived alone with my kitty kids until Jake was five months old. Jake’s dad-to-be was NOT a cat person, and professed to have cat allergies. Well, he would just have to live with them if he wanted to live with me. But little Jake stole his heart. Jake’s athleticism was awe-inspiring as he would leap off the stairs for his string toys. His lovely expressive pale green eyes can melt the hardest heart. Jake worked on his dad-to-be and showed him much devotion and love. His dad thinks that he and his “little man” have a symbiotic relationship. I’m a little jealous of the love that Jake has for his dad, but he does love me and is asleep at my feet as a write this. I do think that Jake is very clever. He knew that his mission was to win over his dad and make him love cats to complete our little family. Mission accomplished!

Bathsheba nearly broke my heart TWICE when she ran away from home two different summers. She was gone for a couple of weeks both times. I was beside myself with worry. I checked with the animal control people, put up signs in the neighborhood, and searched as best I could. My worst fear was that I might find her in a gutter somewhere, but she rarely went into the street. Bathsheba much preferred the little woods out back, thank goodness. I never really lost faith in knowing that she would return, and one day I walked to the bottom of the yard, softly called her name (mostly in my mind), then I heard faint baby-voiced mewing. She was calling out to me as she was coming out of the woods. We were and continue to be connected. She was home! Oh, rejoice! She looked a little thin, but she always lost weight in the summertime. She never told me where she went, and she did it to me again the next year. I guess she either needed some space and took a sabbatical by choice, or she somehow got locked in someone’s shed or something. We have a special bond, but she does need her space. She doesn’t like to be picked up and cuddled, but tolerates it occasionally because it means a lot to me. She is very temperamental and sensitive and insists that our relationship be on her terms, but our love for each other is undeniable. When Bathsheba greets me at the front door when I arrive home from work, I know that all is okay with our world after all. I feel very privileged and honored that she loves me.

My two kids complement each other and make my life complete. I love them dearly.

~J&B's Mom

Link to my blog: http://jakeandbathsheba.blogspot.com