Today is Bettina's 16th birthday. It is hard to grasp the fact that so many years have passed since that little black and white hairball came into our lives. We had two cats already, but when I heard that our friend's cat had had kittens, we decided to get a third cat. We were excited, but Bettina was dismayed by the fact that she was snatched to another family. For the first month this was her reaction every time she saw either of the big cats:
That's a tail on the right, by the look in her eyes.
But she succumbed to it in the end. She was the youngest of the litter and quite small, so she would often just sit, deep in her thoughts, and watch what others were doing.
But even as a kitten she took confined spaces as a personal insult.
Today she is, alas, our only cat as her two best friends have passed away, but she had a good many years of learning the discipline...
...as well as getting lots of hugs.
Bettina grew out to be a fine lady, who loves company. Birdwatching and playing with a scrunched up piece of paper are her favourite hobbies. Nowadays you can see her napping a lot, too.
She has always been picky about her food, so we have to serve her with all sorts of delicacies.
(Do not be fooled by the empty plates, somebody else has been scoffing here.)
But she gracefully accepted to sample the Iams Senior Cat Food that we gave her as a gift. And some catnip, of course.
Happy birthday, Bettina!
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