My face breaks into a smile as Mikayla Little joins me in a video call. “It’s good to see you!”
“Good to see you too,” Mikayla replies. “Shall we begin?”
I nod. “Let’s get started. First, can you tell me what sort of pets you have, and what their names are?”
“Our family has two shared cats; their names are Chaco and Sage. My sister has her own cat named Ellie, and I have a dog called Hope.”
“Nice!” I say. “It must be fun to have a dog all to yourself.”
“It is,” Mikayla agrees. “My whole day sort of revolves around her and her routine.”
“Oh wow, that sounds difficult. Can you tell me about it?”
“Sure. I get up in the morning and let her outside to use the bathroom. When she comes in, we play together, usually fetch or tug-of-war. Then I give her breakfast and start school while she eats. Once I finish some homework, we play again. Then I take her for a walk or do some playing with a frisbee. Later in the afternoon, we have a training session, which usually lasts anywhere from a half hour to 45 minutes. In the evening we have yet another playtime, and then she gets dinner.”
“That’s pretty involved,” I remark. “But it sounds like you two are really close. What does a typical day look like with the cats?”
“The cats are a lot easier,” Mikayla assures me with a laugh. “My mom is the one who mainly takes care of them, and all she does is feed them once a day and make sure they have clean litter.”
“That’s good,” I respond. “Where do you typically find them hanging out? Any favorite rest spots?”
“Well, the cats aren’t picky at all. They like beds, couches, pillows…anything comfy. Hope likes to be near people wherever they are. She’s got one couch in my room, the only couch that we allow her on. She likes her bed too, of course. And when it’s warm outside, she loves being in our fenced-in yard.”
“Aw, that’s great. What about some other favorites? Do they have any activities they especially enjoy?”
“Yep, definitely! The cats like playing with feathers– it keeps them occupied and amused. They like being outside, so in the summer we take them for walks. Hope adores swimming, so we try to do that with her once in a while. She’ll run behind us while we go biking, that’s fun. Oh, and cliff jumping! That sounds scary, but it’s no higher than 5 feet, so it’s very safe. Hope likes to come with us for that.”
That was an answer I wasn’t expecting. “I didn’t even know dogs could go cliff jumping, let alone enjoy it. That’s really cool.”
Mikayla agrees. “Let’s see, more favorites…the cats get treats called greenies, and Sage has special wet food because she’s old. Occasionally, we’ll give them fish and tuna as well. Hope gets treats when we do training, and she also really loves cheese and any sort of meat.”
“Nice,” I reply. “Does Hope typically get along with the cats? What do interactions with them look like?”
“Actually, none of the pets get along very well,” Mikayla admits. “Everyone pretty much ignores Sage; she doesn’t like any of the other pets because she’s old and grumpy. Hope sometimes tries to play with Chaco and Ellie, but neither of the cats appreciates that, and Hope’s nose is usually bleeding by the end of the attempt.”
“Ouch! Poor Hope.”
“Yeah…Ellie and Chaco fight a lot among themselves, and we’re trying to figure out how to stop that, but we haven’t gotten anywhere with that yet.”
“That definitely sounds frustrating,” I sympathize. “Are there any other hard parts about having pets you’ve noticed?”
Mikayla thinks for a minute. “It’s hard when I go away, because Hope is my dog, so when I’m gone my parents have to take care of her.”
“Quite a big responsibility,” I note. “Taking care of a dog is a lot of work. How long have you had your pets?”
“I got Hope for my birthday about a year and a half ago; she was just a little puppy back then. My sister got Ellia around the same time. We’ve had Sage for a very long time– all 17 years of her life, in fact. My parents got her before I was born. And we got Chaco as a kitten as well around 10 years ago.”
“That’s a long time,” I say. “Now, what is your favorite part about having pets?”
“The snuggling and playing, for sure,” Mikayla tells me. “Animals are such a joy to be around. My dream is to be a dog trainer when I grow up, so being able to work on that with Hope is my favorite way to spend time.”
“Fun!” I exclaim. “That’s amazing. Thank you so much for joining me today, it was a pleasure to talk with you.”
“Of course,” Mikayla answers. “Thank you as well!”
Photo Credits: Mikayla Little