Getting to know Marshall Osbourne
Marshall kitty is what John and I refer to as our "Bonus Kitty". When we saw the ad on Facebook in our local neighborhood page for free kittens, we reached out to the gal and asked about them. She had stated there was 1 left, a tabby. So we asked to adopt him. As the date of us picking up our new kitty approached, I got a message from the gal wondering if we would be interested in adopting the brother to the kitten we were going to adopt. We didn't really even hesitate, John said yes right away. She was so glad we said yes, she said that they were bonded so closely, she was concerned how they would do apart. This is how we came to adopt Marshall.
Marshall is an aloof boy, who likes to call the shots on when or if he is going to allow you to see or pet him. Marshall doesn't like to be held or picked up but will allow himself to be for a short period of time. I refer to Marshall as my "Indiana Jones Kitty". When he was a kitten, he would ride the moving rail on my top down bottom up window shades to lower the shade so he could get to the window to look out. Later, he would jump to the top of the window treatments headrail, and hang from his claws, to dangle his way to the shelf he really wanted to get to. (also wrecked said window treatment, thanks kitty). Recently, I was changing the filter on our furnace, and in between the time I took the old filter out, and put the new filter in, Marshall jumped into the furnace while my back was turned. Few minutes later, the furnace kicks on and I can hear a kitty yowling from somewhere downstairs. I finally found him, he stuck his paw through the metal vent on the side of the furnace to wave to me where he was. I pulled him out of the furnace, he was covered in dust, and kept on meowing loudly as I held him. Poor baby 🙁 I felt so bad. Literally, within a week from this happening, while I was doing laundry, he had jumped into the dryer after I'd loaded it and got tumbled around 1 or 2 times before I noticed him on the glass front of our dryer and pulled him out. He didn't seem to be upset or scared, he just sort of shook his feet off and walked away. Now, he is approaching the time when he will no longer take any shit from our Doberman, Hunter. Marshall is a mostly white kitty, with tabby patches all over him. Almost like God ran out of white kitty material and used the left over material from his brother, a tabby. He even has a big heart on his right hip. His face looks a little like he has food all over it. At one point, we allowed the kitties to sleep with us, however above our bed, is a large shelf with my angel collection. Marshall wanted to explore this shelf one early morning after John had gone to work, and in doing so, knocked a few angel statues off my shelf, knocking me in the head and causing me to bleed everywhere. Kitties no longer welcome at night in our bedroom.
Getting to know Maverick Osbourne
Maverick kitty is my sweetheart. He is such a little lover. He just wants to sit in my lap. No matter where I am or what I am doing, Maverick is all about being cuddled. Maverick is the first pet we decided to get after losing our Boston Terrier, Ozzy to cancer in 2019. He is a vocal kitty, who makes little sort of vocalizations in response to us. Maverick and Marshall ARE very bonded. I'd never had first hand experience with this type of animal bonding. There were only 2 kitties in the litter, and their Momma was a dumpster kitty who was very young with her first litter off our 2 kittens. We named Maverick, due to the fact there appears to be a giant M on his forehead. Marshall was the name our other kitty came with - as their owner is involved with firefighting. Maverick is more tolerant of Hunter so far.
When we first got Hunter, our adopted Doberman, the kitties were totally freaked out and moved their day to day existence downstairs in my office and living area down there. I made my home office a little haven for my kitties and they seem to be happy down here with me. We have a gate at the top of the stairs, and just recently the kitties have been venturing upstairs to cautiously observe Hunter. Maverick has gone right up to the gate for a nose to sniff with no drama. Baby steps, we will get there. If Hunter wasn't such a spaz and wanting to get all up in Marshall and Maverick's business, things would probably have been smoother up to this point.
