recording
 	
 	
 		so what kind of animals do you have
 	
 	
 		well i have two cats
 	
 	
 		uh
 	
 	
 		i have two cats because i can't have dogs um where i live i i've wanted a dog i owned a dog we had dogs when i was growing up all the time
 	
 	
 		uh-huh
 	
 	
 		and um you know our our cats are are very interesting and we never owned cats when i was growing up so this is a
 		uh it's been a really really neat uh neat kind of learning experience for me they've blown all my uh conceptions preconceptions about cats
 	
 	
 		
 
 	
 	
 		so do you do you have pets
 	
 	
 		yeah i have a dog and a cat
 	
 	
 		uh-oh do they get along
 	
 	
 		so oh yeah they it was uh a very hairy two weeks there at the beginning uh the dog was a little under a year and the cat was about six weeks old and it it was a hefty break in
 	
 	
 		uh-huh
 		oh did the dog the dog like uh know that there was a cat and
 	
 	
 		well it was very it was interesting because it it's just you know part of their makeup they're psyche i mean they just hate each other automatically but after a while they they got to be good friends and uh
 	
 	
 		hum
 	
 	
 		luckily it's sort of a big cat i mean it's about twelve pounds and uh so he can hold his own against the dog and uh but they they i basically got the cat to keep the dog company and uh they they do that
 	
 	
 		
 
 		yeah
 		
 
 		yeah that's that's actually why we got our second cat i we thought our cat needed a pet
 	
 	
 		uh-huh
 	
 	
 		uh you know you tend to personify these things but our our cat thinks our oldest cat thinks that it it should be a person and our youngest cat actually thinks it's a cat
 	
 	
 		
 
 		
 
 	
 	
 		so it works out pretty well um
 	
 	
 		yeah
 		well i'll tell you one thing i found with with pets um i i think cats
 		are easier to take care of especially when on a situation like you go off on a trip uh you know it's a real pain with a dog because you have to have someone come over and walk them and let them out and that kind of thing
 	
 	
 		uh-huh
 		yeah
 		feed them and all that
 	
 	
 		and sometimes i think wow if i had two cats i'd just you know get a feeder  and
 	
 	
 		uh yeah you know an interesting story is i i i have a friend who has um a cat that actually knows how to open Tender Vittles bags
 	
 	
 		
 
 	
 	
 		so if they go on a trip they just leave the bags on the kitchen floor and the cat'll go and open one when it wants to eat
 	
 	
 		oh that's amazing
 	
 	
 		i'm i swear to God it's like you know the i guess uh it earlier uh earlier time it would have to figure out how to use a can opener but you know now it it's pretty self sufficient i just think
 	
 	
 		
 
 		
 
 		
 
 	
 	
 		you they say you own a dog and you feed a cat and i think that that's pretty much pretty much true
 	
 	
 		yeah
 		
 
 		that is interesting i hadn't ever heard anything like that but uh
 	
 	
 		yeah i it blew me away
 	
 	
 		yeah we've been uh we've been pretty lucky too the uh reason we first got the dog to begin with was i lived i'm in school still and i lived uh closer to campus
 	
 	
 		um-hum
 	
 	
 		and uh as usual the neighborhoods right near campus aren't that nice
 	
 	
 		uh-huh uh-huh
 	
 	
 		and uh so we got the dog as protection and i guess it worked because we were never broken into and the but the people on either side of us were  so yeah uh
 	
 	
 		oh really
 		uh we we usually had rifle cleaning parties on the front porch when you know you move into a bad neighborhood you have your have all your friends over play the Grateful Dead and clean your rifles and they pretty much get the idea
 	
 	
 		
 
 		
 
 		
 
 	
 	
 		uh but the dog i guess would work too
 	
 	
 		yeah yeah
 	
 	
 		
 
 	
 	
 		
 
 	
 	
 		well it is a big dog
 	
 	
 		uh she's uh around fifty pounds she's a a very very skinny shepherd
 	
 	
 		oh okay
 	
 	
 		uh well she's not pure and
 		we we tried to figure out what she was crossed with we know the mother was a shepherd but uh she looks like she's crossed with like Greyhound because she is just thin as a rail and uh
 	
 	
 		oh
 		wow well see they they say that the uh mixed breeds have a better temperament anyway all that inbreeding that they do that they have to do to maintain a pure blood line i guess makes them really weird
 	
 	
 		yeah definitely and they're also prone to more diseases and uh skin problems and
 		my sister has a a pure bred gold uh yellow Lab and that dog has every problem you could imagine you know it's allergic to fleas it's uh got another skin condition and just
 	
 	
 		
 
 		the dreaded hip dysplasia
 	
 	
 		yeah yeah
 	
 	
 		yeah that's uh
 	
 	
 		so we we haven't really had much problems with her she's uh just extremely hyper and uh i guess that accounts for her her physique and she runs like a gazelle so
 	
 	
 		um-hum
 	
 	
 		it's fun to take her to the park and watch her run rings around all the other dogs
 	
 	
 		
 
 	
 	
 		
 
 		trying to play with them and they look at her like you're crazy you think i'm going to catch you
 	
 	
 		she's
 		maybe she is part Greyhound huh
 	
 	
 		so yeah yeah either
 	
 	
 		
 
 		that's that's uh that's interesting i thought about for a while there uh there's a  a movement now to uh adopt ex-race dogs and
 	
 	
 		right