As I embark upon this new journey of living alone, these three furry friends are excellent company. Panda Bear is the white Pekingese-of-fury, Luna-Chunk is the substantial black/white hunter, and Milesy-Cat is the smaller stripey cuddle cat. (While Panda is a 10-yr old senior doggie, the kitties are just 7 months old.)

I’m thankful for them, for their unconditional love (well, from the dog anyway), their furry warmth and crazy enthusiasms.

They are members of my family.

Our kitten is very happy with the new, giant-sized Christmas kitty toy we’ve set up in the living room for him.

He’s cutting a fine swath of psycho-kitty destruction. I’m sure life will be even more interesting once we set up our *train*.

Today is a day for very special pet pictures, the less perfect ones.

Pippin makes a sour face.

Murphy relaxes, in true dingbat dog fashion.

Panda sleeps the sleep of the just.

Do you have any blackmail pictures of your pets to share?

At the beginning of the summer, Zach expressed a desire to add a kitty to our family. I actually like cats, they’re pretty low maintenance, we’ve just been a dog family for quite some time.

This morning we went to the Kitsap Humane Society and played with kitties. We came home with a lovely, outgoing, playful little brown tabby boy that’s going to give Zach a run for his money. We named him Pippin, a Lord of the Rings reference.

No word yet on how the Complaint Department (that would be Panda) will do with him. We’ll introduce them tomorrow, on leash, one at a time. I don’t think they’re aware he’s in the house today, he’s living in Zach’s room for now.

He’s a firecracker, though, and I think he’ll handle two small, not-especially-bright mutts just fine.