Michelle & Jon
Wedding Party
Isobel aka "Izzy"
Matron of Honor
Isobel was our first pet together. She and her daughter, Pookie, joined our family shortly after Jon moved into Michelle's apartment. While we had both been around chinchillas, we had never owned one, let alone two. There was a lot to learn about them! On the very first morning after "the floofs" arrived, we were woken up by a loud rhythmic call from their cage. We panicked, but upon inspection, both chinchillas were fine. When Michelle texted their previous owner, we learned that Izzy was a "crowing animal." She liked to hoot in the morning to announce the rise of the sun! Izzy's daughter passed away unexpectedly a few years ago, but Isobel has no plans of leaving us any time soon. She is very grumpy, even by chinchilla standards. How can so much grump be contained in such a cute creature? Regardless, we love her, even if her feelings towards us are placid, at best. We give her plenty of papaya and peanuts, all the dust baths she could want, and frequent run time outside of her cage. She is as happy as can be, even if she refuses to admit it.
Pudge
Mother of the Groom
When our friend was in the middle of a move, she asked us to cat sit for her. We had just bought a house and happily agreed. What a great way to see whether our home was ready for a cat than to "test drive" someone else's! Pudge immediately became obsessed with Jon. She spent all day, sitting on his desk, staring lovingly into his eyes. Our friend's housing plans fell through. She told us she couldn't take Pudge back but would help find her a home. We told her no way. We had planned on getting a cat, and this cat was already here and happy. Plus, by keeping her, our friend could come visit whenever she wanted. Pudge was a happy accident, and we love her!
Elephant aka "Ellie"
Flower Girl
Our decision to buy a house was based completely on wanting a dog. Our apartment was fine, but it was dog-less, and that was a problem. Jon's offer was simple: "We can have a wedding and get a house later, or we can get a house now and get married later." The solution was clear: House and dog now. We opted to adopt from 4 Luv of Dog Rescue, and Ellie's profile sounded like she would be perfect for us. Before our first visit, we were told that she got nervous around new people. Our instructions were to sit quietly and patiently and wait for her to come to us. "Do not look at the dog. Do not acknowledge the dog." Just like an elephant in the room, we were to ignore her. And so her name was born. She became Elephant, more commonly known as Ellie. We have tons of stories about this hilarious pup, and the best ones are on Facebook and Instagram, so we won't repeat them. Let's just say that we love her so much, and she makes us laugh every day.
Lady aka "Bug"
Best Woman
Let's get this out of the way: Bug is beautiful, and she knows it. We were not in the market for a cat when Bug needed a home. A friend told us about her, and upon seeing the pictures and videos, we were instantly smitten. Not only did she sound like a sweet angel, but she matched our other cat. Having a pair of matching cats has GOT to be fate, right? Bug is the most cat-like cat we have ever had. She fits every cat stereotype. She demands cuddles then bites without warning when she is done cuddling. She SCREEEAMS for attention when she's only an inch from our faces. She fights with the dog and pokes her paw in the chinchilla cage. She does that crazy thing where she darts from one end of the house to the other repeatedly in the middle of the night. She makes direct eye contact while knocking things off of tables and desks. Bug's name with her previous owner was Lady, and it morphed into "Lady Bug." The name we call her now is based on her attitude at that moment. When she's sweet and cuddly, she's Lady. When she is being bratty, she is Bug. She is Bug 95% of the time.
Beans and Samwise Gamgee
Best Man
We decided that we were at capacity for pets. One chinchilla, a dog, and two cats were enough to keep us both busy. When we agreed to bottlefeed some kittens found on the side of the road, we did not plan to keep them. (Honest.) But our dog fell in love with them. Ellie has always been very high-energy and kind of needy in addition to being a bit of a bully. We were worried about introducing her to the kittens, not knowing how she would react. But they were also getting bold and escaping the part of the house they were babygated into, so we knew we had to let the meet happen or risk it happening when we weren't around to supervise. Ellie and Beans loved each other immediately. He was fascinated by her and chased her all over. She would stand by and let him catch her, at which point she would boop him gently and run away again. The meeting with her and Samwise went just as well. In no time, both boys were allowed to freely roam the house. Ellie was never a threat to them. We had never seen our dog behave like this. And at that moment, we knew. We were going to be the weird people with too many cats. We told everyone that we didn't adopt two kittens. Our dog adopted them. Now that the kitty boys are fully grown man cats, they each weigh more than Ellie, and she seems to regret her decision to keep them a little bit.