Benji is my dog. He’s a labradoodle and weighs almost 100 pounds. He never fails to make me smile with his happy-go-lucky attitude and expressive eyes. Actually, his eyebrows do most of the talking, but I digress before I wax poetically about him. Now you might think I’m a dog person or something like that. I’ve also had very expressive loving cats in the past. I like both. I got Benji from a friend of mine whose job at the time was animal control for our surrounding area. Benji was her first pick-up.”

As soon as I met him, I wanted him with me. He sat on the floor and put both his paws on my knees. I noted right away he seemed to gauge the energy levels of the people around him. Benji is very intuitive to his humans.

My friend didn’t want to part with him, but three months later she called me and asked me to take him. She was working with a cat shelter and had two dogs before Benji, and her other dogs weren’t very welcoming to him. Benji rarely leaves my side. Even as I’m typing this, he is lying on the floor right beside my chair.

Then my husband decided he wanted a cat. He is a self-proclaimed cat person (but I catch him spoiling the dogs all the time too). Say what you want about not liking dogs, Mr. V. I can see through you.

So we knew a friend who had a litter of kittens. Mr. V picked his favorite and brought him home. This is what happened.

Anyway, Mr. V said he wanted a cat with personality. That’s precisely what we got a cat that has manic episodes where he insists on racing around the house with his tail puffed up like the grim reaper himself is chasing him.

They are still friends two years later, which is impressive after what that little devil did to poor Benji (the dog has the patience of a saint). A year after we got the crazy cat Miss Sally passed. We added another fur baby to our family. She’s much more reserved than the other two and loves to snuggle on someone’s lap. It took her some time to get used to the cat and Mr. V because Angel is the skittish sort.

Benji is the glue that holds my furbabies together. Sometimes Meowmeows and Little Dog don’t get on well (mainly because the cat thinks all dogs should play with him like Benji does). I hope to have many more years of Benji’s cheerful and calm presence.

Tell me about your fur baby. I want to hear your stories of how they came to you and what their personalities are like.