A Taylor-Made Life: A cat had a birthday

June 21 was a big day in the McMaster house; our short-haired black tabby cat, Beach, turned 10. If you had told me 10 years ago that I’d be writing a column commemorating a cat’s 10th birthday, I would’ve said, “Get real.”

I grew up in a dog household and never had much interaction with cats. In fact, I was made to believe they were mean and scary.

As I began to fall for the father of two cats, I knew I’d eventually have to face my fears. The first time I visited Keegan’s house, the cats came up to greet me. Leaf – our 6-year-old, long-haired, part-Maine Coon — immediately came to the door and started gliding through my legs.

Beach, the more shy of the two, came about halfway down the stairs to check out what was happening. Keegan remarked that it was unusual for him to come that close.

A few years prior, Keegan had some work done at his former house and apparently all of the noise frightened Beach so badly that he went from a fairly social cat to one that hides when the doorbell rings.

In the five-plus years I’ve known and loved Beach, he’s certainly come back to being more of that social cat. Adding two dog brothers to his life has given him something to often supervise, and he always hopes he can sneak a dog kibble.

For 25 years, I never knew what I was missing when it came to cats. Now I couldn’t imagine my life without them.

Because we have a houseful of animals, we’ve put a moratorium on adding any more paws to the mix. It’s hard to remember this when I see all the sweet faces looking for a home on local animal rescues’ social media.

I learned that Kankakee County Humane Foundation offers Date with a Dog, where you can volunteer to take one of their adoptable pets out on a play date. I figured this was perfect for me since I can’t bring any more home.

On Sunday, I picked up Cal for a play date. Due to the heat, we took an air-conditioned ride to PetSmart and then grabbed a pup cup at Starbucks. It was a great opportunity to get Cal out and about.

I know firsthand from our brood how much rescuing an animal can improve your life. Beach and Cal recommend it, too.