I’m Richenne, a first-year student in the Master of Education, Developmental Psychology & Education program. I have four cats: Eddie, Max, Milo, and Luna. With the pandemic and my family having tested positive for COVID-19, I’ve been isolated in my room and unable to see anyone. Eddie was always right there keeping me company, and I think that’s why we are so close!
My family had Max and Milo first — we got each of them from different friends. We had had them for about five years when the third cat came into my family’s life in a more interesting way. When I was in grade 10, my parents and I were walking back to our car from shopping at Walmart, and we noticed that an employee was chasing something. My mom quickly noticed it was a cat!
My heroic mother saw that the Walmart employee had given up, and she knew she would regret not saving the cat from the brutal winter we were having that year. She saw the cat under the car, got on her hands and knees, and grabbed him. As she walked to the car — I remember it so vividly — the cat was trying its best to get out of her clutch, but my mom refused to let him go.
When she got inside the car and my dad started driving off, the cat calmed down and sat nicely on her lap. For a few weeks, we contacted multiple buildings that surrounded the Walmart and took him to the vet to check if there was a microchip. There was none, so we decided to keep him, and I named him Eddie!
Now, he is my son and the sweetest cat ever. He has never hissed at my other two cats, loves to be around dogs, and naps excessively. Whenever I pass by Walmart — where he chases all the pigeons — I call it Eddie’s homeland.
Our fourth cat was found by my aunt who couldn’t take her into her home, so she sent the cat to us. We couldn’t find the owner, and from what we gathered, the cat was outside for a while — she was so small! However, she was also quite round. It turned out that she was pregnant.
I still remember when she gave birth on my first day of class in grade 11. She went into labour under my bedside table, but we moved her into a box under my desk. She was carrying four kittens inside her tiny body! We sent all the kittens to new homes, but no one wanted the mom, so we decided to keep her and name her after a Sailor Moon character: Luna!
Max, as our oldest cat, took the alpha role. He loves to jump and attack. The other boys, Milo and Eddie, try to fight back, but Max just sits on top of them. Luna will sometimes wait at the bottom of the stairs and slap Milo and Max as they come down.
Eddie and Luna have a special relationship — Luna never fights Eddie! Luna was once missing, but we thought she was probably just sleeping inside a closet. Eddie kept meowing at the door to our backyard, so we let him out, and he came back with Luna!