Nature isn't always pretty. But then, what is pretty?
We had a long talk on the topic of getting a second animal. It's the
labour: the necessary alterations to beddings, the filling up of food
bowls, the refilling of water, etc. And then there's concern. When one
already has an animal in the house there is always the question of how the
present animal will adapt to a new fellow.
Besides, we weren't going to duplicate the species. Our present animal, a
cat, if you mustn't, already has some species concerns. It picks up balls
and carries them back to the person who threw it. It makes barking sounds
at strangers. When he stomped his paw in a pool of pink paint wife declared
he was in a transition period // possibly becoming a new species
altogether.
On the other hand there is the unmistakeable sense of company. With a cat
one is never alone. With two animals in the house we should be twice as
communal?
After a long gestation period wife started to insist on a rodent. Would it
be a hamster? A mouse? No, she preferred something that rhymed with a cat,
and a hat wouldn't do.
So a rat it is. Next week he or she will arrive. We have food and snacks
ready. All we need now is to prepare the cat. And make sure he isn't
hungry.
Mvh. / Yours sincerely,
Torgeir Fjeld, PhD
http://torgeirfjeld.com/
