Annie

She stole my Hippo Pillow Pet.

I love hippos.  The pillow was a favorite.  She doesn't look sorry.  And she can't sleep now if it's not on the floor waiting for her.

She greets me at the door by bumping her nose into my leg then chasing her tail.

She lays in her bed forlorn when she knows I'm getting ready to leave.

She follows me into the basement to watch me do laundry.

She races me back up the basement stairs and sometimes lets me win.

Even though it happens every single time she walks past the oldest cat, she is still genuinely shocked and hurt that the cat smacks her on the top of her head and hisses at her relentlessly.

She could eat the cat.  She still chooses not to.

When I am in a bad mood, she gets anxious and chews on her bones - which makes me realize it upsets her so I try to relax.

When I cry, she nuzzles me until I stop.

She loves ice cubes.

She also loves cat food and the occasional litter box snack.

She will chase a rabbit halfway across the neighbor's yard...then come running back to apologize for her lack of control over herself.

And she'll do it again next time.

When she wants to go for a walk, she noses the leash on the stairs and looks at me in anticipation.

When she wants to go outside, she noses the bell on the backdoor.

She tolerates her brother who has no control, no manners, and (although I love him) low intelligence.

The other day I caught her giving the other cat a bath.  And the cat was massaging her neck in turn.  It made me melt.

She makes me laugh with her soulful eyes every day.

Her tail curls to the left, and when she walks, she sometimes leans that way too.

I am convinced she knows what I am saying when I talk to her about my day.

I recently watched her solve a problem when she realized I was going into the freezer to get ice cubes, but she already had a bone in her mouth...after walking back to her bed and back to me twice with the bone in her mouth she tilted her head, walked to her bed, dropped the bone...and came running back for the ice cube triumphantly.  It was amazing.

She follows me everywhere and is always within 2 feet when I am home.

Last week, I found a lump on her stomach.

And with that, my own stomach turned.

Yesterday the vet said it was benign.

She can have my Hippo Pillow Pet.

She already has my heart.