Wild Kingdom

In addition to the one dog, four cats inside, and four cats outside, we are visited by raccoons and possums.  We live next to a swamp, so it's really not that unusual.  We are also visited by snakes and alligators, and those have been unwelcome visitors, but that's a story for another post.

We feed the "outside cats" in the backyard - we caught them in "Have-a-Heart" traps, had them tested, vaccinated, and neutered, but they aren't tame enough to bring inside.  Three of our four "inside cats" go outside, but they stay inside most of the time.

Whenever someone asks me how many pets we have, I say, "We have one dog, four cats inside, and four cats outside."  I've always thought that we have five pets, since the "outside cats" are feral - they let us pet them, but they freak out if you try to pick them up and bring them inside.

Recently, a little girl asked me the question, and when I told her my answer, she said, "You have nine pets?????"

In all this time, I never thought I had nine pets, but I guess I kind of do!