This is my Cat

Pepper is my cat. I've had her for 16 (!) years . I was six and my best friend who lived down the street was moving to another town. Pepper is an outdoor cat and always hung around by our house, so my friend and her family decided she would probably be happier to stay with us than to move with them. Pepper was an unenthusiastic mother before we got her, so I place her age at an estimated 18 years old. Pepper was once very spry. She was a talented hunter, and I was the honored recipient of many dead bird, rat, and mole gifts in my room. She used to sleep with me every night, and has had a many years-long love affair with my teddy bear, Big Bear. She was very patient with us children, especially my brother who would drag her by the tail, bathe her in the sink, and throw her out of trees to see if she would land on her feet. She always did.

These days she is old and has gone a little bonkers, but she seems quite happy. She spends all day on my parents bed, though she comes down the stairs and sticks her face through the bannister railing to say hello when someone comes home. She has become much more cuddly in her old age and purrs the moment someone begins petting her. I love her.