I'd give anything to have a Siamese. Is she a big talker?

You know Irri--I have heard and read that all my life--I've had siamese cats growing up except for a space of six years, and while they will talk if I address them, it is seldom more than a faint mew--the lilac point above, Kublai, was the loudest, he'd meow whenever he heard me call him, but more often than not it was a 'silent meow' with just the mouth opening.  When he went blind and deaf, he'd meow if he started circling (age was starting to affect his brain), so I'd pick him up, fuss over him and set him down, and he'd be fine, going about his normal routine-he knew where everything was, so I was sure to keep things where he'd remember. Bortai will mew if she wants something, but it's barely audible, even when it's ham!

Huh. I wonder if you're more responsive than most humans and they just don't need to carry on as much as cats that have to compete for attention a lot?

That could be it--I've always been very attached to my pets, which is why I hope Bortai will be the last--it'd be devastating to lose her after so long, like it was with Kublai: I came home from work about 10pm to find him upstairs, so I carried him down (not unusual) and he ate a bite or two, drank a bit of water, then turned and collapsed. No vet opened until 7am, so I sat up holding him in front of his electric heater all night, he was in a coma when we got to the vet's, and he said fluids would revive him for a week or so, but it wouldn't last--so I held him for his final injection, staring into his eyes as they dimmed.  If I hadn't had a ride from my stepfather, I'd have been unable to get home.  Bortai is going to be just as painful when her time comes.

God, that sounds terrible, I'm so sorry. I hope you have many more years with Bortai.

I feel the opposite way---I've been without a cat or dog for so long now (25 years) that, like Scarlett O'Hara, I don't ever mean to go without again once I have another opportunity. The babysitter's Pomeranian has trained the kids pretty well at this point... We just need to find the new place and we're good. No cats though--Mr Irri is allergic, which is a shame, because cats lurve him

Being in the city for nearly 30 years, I won't have a dog--there isn't space for one, and I don't do indoor dogs being used to German Shepherds and Great Danes.   It's a shame about the hubby, because there are so many cats needing homes--even Siamese ones--there are rescue places that specialize in them, particularly older ones. If I ever get another, it will be a rescue, as all my others. Oh, my little avatar pic is of Genghis about age 4--he loved hiding behind the shower curtains being 'invisible', but he never figured out that his tail was always sticking out.

Gosh, he WAS tall--he's standing up in a clawfoot tub, right? I never enlarged the pic before and assumed he was lying encircled in someone's arms!

I've got my dog all picked out: Shetland Sheepdog or a Pom or some related mix. Smart and energetic, not too big--we're fairly tiny people    and the kids would get knocked over by a Lab puppy pretty easily.

Merry Christmas to you and you kitty.  My little four legged buddy has been hyper and happy as hell with her gifts.  She's so sweet.

I have to say.  This breaks my heart because our little part Chihuahua, part Jack Russell is like our child.  I try not to even think about losing her.

Yep, Irri, Genghis was a big boy with pale sky-blue eyes--sleeping was hell with him and Bortai: one on either side of my head, tails facing me so their heads could lie in the palms of my hands--Bortai content to adjust herself to me, Genghis would nudge my hand until it was where HE wanted it.

Still, the joys of having them as companions outweighs any future pain of parting, though it may not seem like it at the time. At 3months, Genghis stuck his head in the gas logs and came out even sootier looking than his partial markings showed--and at 4months I lost half my cat figurines because he tried jumping on the mantelpiece-not quite enough and scrabbled on the cloth I had as decoration--I managed to catch half of the pieces, the rest broke on the tile hearth. He was always the adventurous/evil one of the pair.