What are the names of your cats?
Bruce and Clark
Photo (above): Bruce and Clark. Taken by @bruce_and_clark_the_kittens . Check out more photos of their cat family on Instagram.
Where is your cat family located in?
Hampshire, England
What are the breeds of your cats?
Domestic short hair - mostly white with tabby markings 😻
How old are your cats?
They are both 7-months old
Where can we find your cats on social media?
On Instagram @bruce_and_clark_the_kittens
How do you tell Bruce and Clark apart?
Bruce has a full mask - like Batman!! And, he's a little skinner too.
Meanwhile, Clark's marking doesn't quite cover his right eye and kind of looks like a quiff (like superman's!). He's also a little larger and slightly fluffier.
In a few short words/sentences, tell us about your cats' personalities.
Bruce is the naughty one - we call him the youngest even though they’re from the same litter! He’s mischievous, extremely clever, and almost certainly thinks he’s a dog!
Clark is the slightly more calm, cat-like older sibling who loves to lounge in the sunshine on a window sill and absolutely adores snuggles with his Mama’s! Both boys love each other and can’t be separated too long. They both love to sleep near/on their Mamas.
How have your cats transformed your life from the moment you've met them till now?
We now have these gorgeous little boys who depend on us for everything. Who trust us to take care of them. I didn’t think it would be a huge deal before we picked them up, but that first night I was a wreck! I was so worried something would go wrong, what if they get poorly or hurt? All these scenarios were going around my head, and they still do! #helicoptermum 🙋♀️
We have a great schedule in the house (though Covid-19 has thrown it out the window and I’m (Jodie) in the house all the time now - sorry boys!!), including cleaning and hoovering every 5 minutes 😂 It’s worth it. They are worth it!
What do your cats mean to you?
Quite simply, they are our babies! We love them so much. They have completed our home - it was always wonderful but now it’s most definitely complete. I suppose they might be a little (a lot) spoilt but hey! like I said, they are our children 💚
We are very unlikely to have human babies (that’s a long story) but we knew we (mostly Jodie) needed something or someone in the house to take care of. Dogs were out of the question - too smelly and slobbery - and we work too much. Little did we realise just how much time and effort these boys would take and we wouldn’t change it for the world. They are perfect and have made us extremely happy Mamas.
Photo (above): Two superhero cats - Clark and Bruce. Taken by @bruce_and_clark_the_kittens . Check out more photos of their cat family on Instagram.
How did you and your cats first meet? Tell it to us in the form of a short story.
We had talked about getting cats for years. Then one day I (Jodie) just thought, why not check in with the Cat’s Protection (UK based cat charity) and see if they have any kittens nearby that need adopting. I filled out the form with very little hope but within half an hour I had a text with information on 3 litters in the local area! Now I just needed to approach the subject with my wife 🙈😂
She was up for going to see the kittens the next day! The volunteer had 2 mum’s and 2 litters in an outdoor enclosure and we saw the 5 week old white and tabby babies and I’m not gonna lie, it was love at first sight. I knew I wanted 2 boys, they only had 2 boys. It was meant to be. We already had names picked out - like the nerdy superhero fans we are we went for Bruce (Wayne - Batman) and Clark (Kent - Superman) - Charlie picked up the first furball who had this adorable tabby mark across his eyes and said: “Hi Bruce!” I think I melted a little.
I then picked up the other slightly floofier floof ball and asked him if that meant he was Clark? (He said yes) Then I realised his tabby mask on his face actually looked like a little quiff of hair (like Superman!!). Clearly, it was meant to be. These were our boys! We went to see them again when they were about 6 and 1/2 weeks and then picked them up at exactly 8 weeks old (their mum was gone at 6 weeks).
What do you think your cats think of you?
Our boys certainly love us very much - most likely it’s food-based - but we’ll take it where we can! 😂
Your cats are part of your family. What are some things they do that make you think that consider you part of theirs?
While Clark can be more on the aloof side some of the time, he can give the BEST cuddles - literally hours of adorable snuggles and love. It’s the best. With Bruce (AKA the puppy cat) he follows us everywhere and greets us at the door when we get home. He sleeps on our bed with us and we play chase in the garden!
From their first week with us they have been lap cats, every evening they come and snuggle with us, usually, we get a kitten each which is adorable and perfect. Early on we started clicker training with them (@cat.school) and I believe this has helped our bond grow. Cats doing tricks - not sure there’s anything cooler!
What are some accounts your cats like to follow on Instagram?
@catexplorer.community
@adventuresoflumosandnox
@thegibsonchronicles
@roxythe_kitty
@admchester
@indiannajoneskat
@mac_fabcat
@kimi.adventure.cat
@koda_and_pinecone
@my.cat.got.talent @cat.school
@ziggy.and.charlie
Why do you feel that it is important to show the world that Cats are Family?
Cats get a bad rep. This is pretty much down to us humans - so pretty unfair. We want our boys to have a long, happy, and fulfilling life and we believe that is exactly what they are getting. Lots of love, attention, and very importantly, play! While they are mostly indoor cats they do go outside on a harness and lead - we want them to be safe (the world can be very harmful to domestic cats!) but we also want them to have more than just the 4 walls of a house. We love them and want them to be as enriched as possible.
And they LOVE it outside - especially playing in the back garden with us. We feel that this is our way of showing them how much they are loved and respected. We would love to show the world how incredibly wonderful cats can be in our lives - just as everyone already believes dogs are (man’s best friend and all that). It’s up to us as cat guardians to encourage the big cat inside our little cat to come out and show the world just how amazing they truly are! Nothing warms our hearts more than a cuddle full of purrs and makes us prouder than when they learn a new thing!
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