We don’t adopt in a small way, at least when it comes to animals.

Since May, we have adopted three sibling kittens and a puppy. We now have a house of eight pets. Three different species.

I have always considered myself a dog person, mainly because I’m allergic to cats. My mother is too, so we never had them as pets growing up.

We got adopted these three kittens after a close call with a copperhead. Living out in the country now, I see the benefit of having what people call “barn cats”. They are great for pest control.

They were only 4 weeks old when they came to us, much too small for them to live outside, and so they’ve been living inside the house with us. Now that they are almost 13 weeks old, they are inside/outside cats. I’ve grown too attached to let them live outside full time. I worry they’ll get stuck in a tree (which happens on a daily basis almost) during the night, or they’ll get too curious about a nocturnal and get attacked.

Now they spend the morning outside before the summer heat takes over and then spend most of the afternoon playing around inside where it’s cool. They are fun, funny to watch, and incredibly sweet.

And then there’s our new puppy. We got her 3 weeks ago and she is her own woman. She does what she pleases when she pleases. Training her is taking a lot longer than my previous experience with dogs. She is adorable and playful. I love her to death. But during this puppy stage, I’m finding myself to be more of a cat person.

Is it possible to be both a cat and a dog person? I guess that can happen when you are an animal lover in general.

(Forgive the unpolished writing. I’m a little rusty these days. I haven’t been writing much. I do have 8 pets and a family so my plate is very full…That’s my excuse, at least.)