Meet the Pets: The Lola Edition

And now is time for part 1 of a 3 part series here on the Lowe Down.  [Edit - Now a four part series. We gluttons for punishment have added to the farm. See pics of the new member here.]   My entire life, pets have been very important to my family.  They are almost like children around here, so I'm going to introduce you to them one blog at a time.  First up, the pet we've had the longest:  Miss Lola Jo Kitaen Lowe.  That's "Ki-tain", as in Tawny Kitaen, the girl that rolls on the hood of the cars in the Whitesnake video.  I don't have a good reason why, that's just her name.

We adopted Lola as a six week old kitten from the Humane Society of Pulaski County.  At the time, we had 2 outside dogs (Callie and McGwire) and I was jonesing for a pet in the house.  Alli was...maybe 18 months?  I think.  I just asked Ryan and he agreed with me, but he usually agrees with me so that's not really a good confirmation.  We'll roll with it though.  That would mean we got her in early summer 2006, and that sounds about right.

Lola was the tiniest kitten in the cage with the HUGEST ears you've ever seen.  We used to call her Bat Cat.  Take a look:

Isn't she just the cutest?  Not long after we got her, I was home alone and couldn't find her anywhere.  I tore the house up for three hours, made Ryan leave work, got hysterical, and then found her asleep between the pillows on our bed as he walked in the door.  He was not that happy about it.  But she was so tiny!!  Here she is playing with Alli:

The intent with the entire cat acquisition, so I told my wary husband, was to have an inside animal that was "Alli's" for her to love.  But, because people and animals are just naturally drawn to my inner beauty and calm, Lola rejected our original plan for her (as is Lola's nature) and chose me.  I can't say I tried too hard to stop her either.  She follows me everywhere, sits in my lap, and only snuggles with me.  And I like it that way. 

So Lola is now 4 years old and is your very very typical cat.  This is a key point in our pet dynamic, because for those of you who know, we also have another cat who is NOT a typical cat.  But that will be part 2.  Back to Lola Jo - she's snooty, everything is on her terms, she's not very cuddly, and she sleeps a lot.  She's also kind of a chunk-a-lunk (my family calls her Queen Latifah, which is just not nice).  So why do I like her?  Do you even have to ask?  Let's review:

• She's a snob.  
• She's bossy.
• She's low maintenance.  
• She loves me best.

She sleeps on my side of the bed, only after everyone is asleep and still.  She gets up with me and sits with me while I get ready in the morning.  She stops in front of you when you are walking and rolls on her back so you can rub her belly - but don't rub too long or she'll bite.  She HATES Cash.  Like chases him down when he looks at her funny.  One time Cash stepped on Ginger (not a hard thing to do, you'll see that in part 2) and Ginger reacted badly (man, you are really going to enjoy part 2) and meowed loudly and Lola flew across the room and attached herself to Cash's face, spitting and hissing.  Poor Cash was running and shaking his head trying to get her off.  No one steps out of line with Queen Latifah around.

So now you know Lola a little better.  If you're lucky enough to meet her and then are lucky enough to get to pet her (not a given), scratch her chin.  She loves it.  But again, don't scratch too long.