Mark Twain and I

In the last couple of years, I've taken photographs of hundreds of cats and dogs for the Metro Animal Services website, although today only two of the photos on the web are mine: Ralphie, the shepherd/ retriever mix and Aria, the Persian. I'll be updating other photos when I go in next week. http://www.metroanimalservices.org/Want_search_pets.htm


I've tried my best to keep these dear creatures at emotional arms length, but to no avail. As I've mentioned before, 2013 found us bringing both a dog, Charlie, and a kitten, Tot, into our family.

I've always been a cat lover and only recently become a dog lover, so it's not surprising that this article from Healthy Pet magazine caught my eye. I'm also a fan of Mark Twain.

Scratch the surface of Mark Twain's life and his love for animals of the feline persuasion is evident. In his words: "I simply can't resist a cat, particularly a purring one. They are the cleanest, cunningest, and most intelligent things I know, outside of the girl you love, of course."

Twain held cats in such high regard he once noted, "If man could be crossed with the cat it would improve man, but it would deteriorate the cat." But of all people he viewed cat lovers in a fonder light, writing, "When a man (I'm sure he means women too!) loves cats, I am his friend and comrade, without further introduction."

I'm so glad to know that Twain would have been my friend and Tot's too. :-)