An Experiment With a Cat

Well, hello there blog followers!  Sorry it's been over a month since we've posted!  We have had a lot going on with some traveling, some visitors, and a cat.  We thought we'd write this post up as if it were in the format of a science experiment.  Let's see if you can follow along...

1)  The Problem:  Rebecca seems lonely at times at our house.  She wishes school was 7 days a week so she could be around other kids.  She's missing Grace, Lilly, her triplet buddies, and some kids from Hopkins.

2)  The Hypothesis:  If we get a cat, then Rebecca will not feel as lonely because she has something to play with (besides a 4 year old pit bull).

3)  Background Information:  A teacher at our school saves cats and dogs and she had a two month old kitten named Bruno that needed a home.  We were worried about having a cat around because of our allergies, so she agreed that we could take the cat for a two week trial and return him if it didn't work out.

4)  Data:

• The cat only made it 10 days with us.  He is alive and well, but living with a different family now.
• Mike and I had terrible allergies...Mike was affected the worst of all with a constant cough and runny nose.
• The cat was in love with Bec and followed her around everywhere.  Bec did not like that he stalked her.  He even slept next to her...this became a problem later...see data below.
• Rebecca was quite annoyed with the cat at times.  Bruno would steal her small plastic animals, attack them, bite them, and haul them all around the house.   He also liked to watch Bec build houses out of her wooden blocks and then run in and demolish them.  Bec would just scream, "NO, NO, NO!  Leave my stuff alone, Bruno!" It was like having a little brother around and good for our only child to experience this.  
• Rebecca was also quite scared of this tiny cat.  He would wait in ambush and jump out and hold onto her legs.  He would bite her feet in the middle of the night when she moved them under the blankets.  He cornered her many times and she leapt from sofa to chair to chair to escape this tiny feline.  Bruno caused many a crying sessions because she was afraid of him. She didn't seem to understand he was playing, no matter how much we explained to her.  His surprise attacks were just too much.  
• Our pit bull, Drako, was very jealous of Bruno.  He seemed to plot his demise and this worried us that he would catch him some day.

5)  Conclusion:

• Rebecca and Mike are NOT cat people.
• We are still highly allergic to cats.  We don't think Bec was allergic to him though.
• Owning a pit bull and anything else does not work.
• Cats are hilarious with their stealthy moves and attacks from under beds and curtains.  This provided a lot of laughing behind Bec's back when she was afraid of him or annoyed with him.  Mike said that if it wasn't for his allergies, he would keep Bruno around just so that Bec would have to get used to having to share or deal with another thing touching her stuff.
• We know we made the right choice because two weeks after Bruno was gone, we asked Bec if she wanted to go visit him...her answer 'No, not really.'

PS:  Costa Rica just scored against Mexico.  We know this not because we are watching the game but because of the cheers coming from the surrounding neighborhood.