ai·lur·o·phile /īˈlo͝orəˌfīl/

"In my opinion, cat owners are tolerant, uniquely willing to see past the flaws of others, nurturing and patient - largely because they have been taught these qualities by cats."

How true!  

And written by a true ailurophile!

In my family,  there are 2 true ailurophiles:  Kerry and me.  

Everyone else loves "certain" cats - cats that like to curl up in your lap, cats that are predictable, cats that follow the rules of the house.  It's easy to love cats like Momo and Tigger.   

Maddie, however, is a completely different story.  She's not easy for everyone to love. She is extremely independent and unpredictable.  When she decides to curl up in your lap, you feel honored because it doesn't happen very often.  When she's not terrorizing Momo, she's trying to terrorize other family members by jumping at their legs as they walk by or knocking things off the counter.

But Kerry and I love her just the same!  

Maddie is full-grown, but tiny - only 8 lbs.  That's fitting, because she looks and acts like a kitten. It somehow makes her easier to understand.  Kerry calls her "baby cat"  and her favorite thing to say is "Baby cat don't care"!  It's true.  Maddie does what she wants!

Recently, Maddie wasn't putting weight on one of her paws and needed to go to the vet.  Her paw was really swollen.

Maddie didn't understand why she had to ride in the crate - she usually just jumps into the car with the dogs and goes for a ride.  She must have known this was different.

But Maddie wasn't even afraid when we let her out of the crate in the exam room.

  And she just hung out on the scale for a while after being weighed...

Dr. Brown examined her and she was really good!  We were so proud!

 They took her into the back room to shave some of the fur off her paw and check it out, but they didn't find anything suspicious.  After a shot of antibiotics, she was good as new the next day.

Kerry and I had fun together that day at the vet's.  Maddie makes us laugh and we enjoy her so much!

In my opinion, cat owners are tolerant, uniquely willing to see past the flaws of others, nurturing and patient - largely because they have been taught these qualities by cats.

Kerry is working full-time this summer as a nursing assistant.  She is nurturing, patient, tolerant, and willing to see past the problems and flaws of her patients.

I can't help but believe being a cat lover has something to do with these good qualities she possesses. 

ailurophile = cat lover = Kerry