This is Rocky. He was rescued during a typhoon when my youngest daughter lived in Guam. He's never met a lap he didn't like. -- Photo by Pat Bean
My dog, Maggie, must be a cat in disguise.
Travels With Maggie
We never had a cat when I was growing up, only dogs. I didn’t have anything against cats, but never really wanted one of my own. I thought them too unfriendly, a stereotype that was confirmed by the first one that came into my life.
It was a beautiful, silky black feline that adopted my then eight-year-old daughter, Deborah. She adored this creature and named it Mai Ling. The enchantment was lost on the rest of the family. Mai Ling was cleverly mean, with a heart as dark as her fur.
One of her favorite activities was to hide beneath the couch and claw the legs of unsuspecting passers-by. Even worse, were her frequent full-body tackles on innocent sleepers.
One day, just as Mai Ling had left her former home to follow my daughter home, it adopted a new family down the street. Deborah brought the cat back repeatedly, but at the first opportunity Mai Ling always escaped again.
Deborah greatly mourned the loss of her pet, but the rest of the family rejoiced.
The next cat to enter my life was an ugly, skinny, dirty-haired calico that one of my sons had rescued from some boys who were teasing her.
This is Maggie, a cat in disguise. She considers me her personal slave. -- Photo by Pat Bean
“Well, we’re going to have to feed this one for a while before we can find it a new home,” I told him. At this point, not even Deborah, wanted to adopt another cat.
Two weeks later our ugly, rescued feline had turned into a beautiful princess that had stolen all our hearts. We named her Kitterick, after a sexy, albeit a kid’s show, mascot for Houston’s KTRK-TV.
Kitterick had a long and happy life with our family, including our dog. We would often find the two of them curled up together.
The moral of this story is as old as Methuselah. And it applies to a lot more in our lives than cats, including the journeys we make. As Aldous Huxley once said: “To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries.”
Pat Bean's blog 
Cats are very sensitive and Mai Ling knew most of the people in the house hated her. That’s why she found a better home where everyone adored her – it’s that simple. LOL. I can pick up those negative vibes, too, and usually disappear in a hurry. Smart kitty!
She just wanted new victims to torment. I swear that cat was evil. I mean she never much returned the affection my daughter gave her, and the rest of us were just clawing posts to her. She broke my daughter’s heart, and for that alone, she’s on my dookie list. And this from a die-hard animal lover who has, except for Mai Ling, never met an animal she didn’t love. Keep writing … Pat Bean https://patbean.wordpress.com
I love your Aldous Huxley quote. It applies to our opinion of Siamese cats. When we got our first one, whose name was Zorro, we knew everyone was wrong. We couldn’t have asked for a nicer cat. When Zorro met an untimely death under the wheels of a car when he was out finding female feline friends, he was replaced by another Siamese, then another and soon our daughter was raising Siamese cats, all with absolutely wonderful dispositions.
Your cat and dog together. Nice image!
I love that first quote. It’s so true. I’ve never had a dog, but have been the servant of one cat or another for most of my life. I’ve had one or two cats that thought they were dogs in that they were friendly, followed me everywhere, and would fetch things.
I share a house with a person and two dogs. And they give me that look, mine mine, human, slave, my human, my human slave. I see it all the time, mixed in with the looks of adoration. Guess they are mixed breeds. Thanks for the smiles.
Kate