Confessions of a Converted Cat Lady: Sasha

After Luna had been home a couple weeks and we had added a third dog to our household, I began to think along these lines:

"The dogs have each other to play with...Poor Luna is outnumbered three to one...Luna needs a feline friend to play with"

By the time I mentioned to Rick that it didn't seem fair for Luna to be an only cat in a three dog household, he just sighed resignedly,

 "What difference would one more animal make at this point?" 

 Famous last words, as you'll understand later in this post.

When I found Sasha at ACS, the city shelter, I was drawn to her because she seemed like a non-Persian version of Flannery, small and gray with a spunky outgoing personality. They told me she was about five years old, which didn't seem too old to be a companion for Luna, who was supposed to be about two, but was probably younger..

Our vet soon got to know Sasha very well. She said that she was at least ten years old, which explains why she's not interested in playing with Luna and likes to cuff her around to keep her in her place. They are like   feline versions of a flighty teenage girl and a crotchety little old lady.

Sasha has ear polyps, one of which the vet removed, but she's still prone to ear infections. She also has feline IBS, which I won't go into detail about, but lets just say that the half price I got on her adoption fee will never make up for the fortune it costs us to feed her.

She has patiently tolerated me squirting medicine in her mouth and ointment in her ears, but she does seem to have less affection for me than for my husband and son. Every evening when Rick settles into his recliner, she settles into his lap.When he sits down at the breakfast table, she is on the table practically on top of the newspaper as he tries to read it. He is clearly her favorite, but that's OK, because I am Luna's.

This dog person has learned that cats, like dogs, have their own unique personalities and most don't fit the stereotype of being aloof

Sasha came to take over. Rick says we should have named her Lola after the song lyric,

"Whatever Lola wants, Lola gets"

We named her Sasha because she's a Russian Blue, although probably not purebred, and because we just liked the name.

She reminds me of Granny from the old Beverly Hillbillies show: small, stubborn and spunky, but lovable.

You know how some dogs insist on head-butting your arms to get you to keep petting them? Sasha does the same. She demands that you keep your hands free for her to rub her head and face on them, endlessly.

She loves pens and pencils and will boldly try to take them out of your hand with her teeth while you are writing with them.

She's a relentless demanding little terror in the kitchen if there's any meat or dairy out. 

This five pound cat is completely undaunted when surrounded by three forty pound dogs. She will brook no nonsense from them and will just slap them upside the head with a paw on general principle.

Gypsy would really like to just take that food, but Sasha is more formidable than she looks.