Kaitlin Mahar, Chester & Roscoe
My mom is an animal lover, so we had dogs and cats around for most of my childhood. My boyfriend had a similarly pet-filled upbringing. Once we moved in together in NYC, it was only a matter of time before we started thinking about pets. We decided we wanted a kitten, and after learning that kittens do much better in pairs, we decided we’d get two and submitted an application to Brooklyn Animal Action.
I have a soft spot for orange cats (my mom’s cat Kitty, who is now 14, is also orange) and so when I saw pictures of the boys I had to meet them. We learned from their foster that they had been found in a backyard somewhere in Brooklyn along with their feral mom and one other littermate, a sister. Their mom, who had long orange hair like Roscoe, had been TNRed and the sister had been adopted to a home with another cat. I couldn’t believe how tiny and cute they were, only 8-9 weeks old at the time. Of course, we fell in love on the spot and had to take them home.
I liked the name Roscoe for a cat and my boyfriend liked Chester, so naming them was just a matter of deciding who got which name. I can’t recall now how we settled on that. But the mnemonic I came up with for friends who mix them up is C is C and R is R—that is, Chester is cream-colored and Roscoe is red.
It’s impossible to imagine life without them now. They sleep in bed with us most nights. I call Chester my “butt warmer” because he often sleeps snuggled right up against my butt. Meanwhile, we call Roscoe “propper” because he loves to sleep with his front half propped up on one of our legs or feet. It was life-changing for us to get a king-sized bed last year to more comfortably fit all 4 of us.
Pretty much no matter what I’m doing at home, they are keeping me company. Chester has a bed on the bathroom shelf next to the sink so he can hang out while I shower and get ready, and a cat tree next to my desk where he sits while I work (he’s a very helpful assistant - in fact, he’s assisting me with writing this). Roscoe is more of a floor guy and likes to hang out on my bathmat and the rug in my office. He is known for his “plops” onto rugs—if he is standing on one and you make eye contact, there’s a good chance he will quickly throw himself down onto the rug and show you his belly.
They are great sous chefs and love to hang out in the kitchen as well, either on the stools, the counter, or even on top of the refrigerator—Chester loves jumping to high places. Their favorite meal for us to cook is pasta, specifically any type of pasta with long, narrow strands like spaghetti or bucatini. We always save a few pieces for them, which they love to use as toys. They both moonlight as delivery men—Roscoe prefers to deliver hair scrunchies and pasta, and Chester plastic springs. They will carry them in their mouths and loudly scream until they find you and deposit the item at your feet.
They have both done their fair share of being mischievous and getting into things they shouldn’t over the years. After we found Roscoe drinking from the toilet a couple of times, we’ve been a strict toilet-lid-down household, which we always have to brief our guests on. Meanwhile, Chester is very clever and has learned how to open doors and cupboards, so we have child locks on a number of those now.
They have been together their whole lives, and so have a very close relationship with each other as well as us. They can usually be found in the same room and frequently “mirror” each others’ poses and actions. They have a play-wrestling match at least once a day too.
On the day we brought them home, I think I had no idea just how important they would become to me. Having cats of my own has been a whole level above having family cats, I think because, for the first time, I am a cat’s “person” (or one of their two people, rather.) Growing up, my mom was always definitively the cat’s person and the one who got followed around and snuggled at night. Having them does make some aspects of life more difficult, like traveling, or trying to get uninterrupted focus time when they want attention. But it has been completely worth it for the love, companionship, and entertainment I have gotten from them.
Kaitlin is originally from Syracuse, New York. She now lives in Brooklyn with her boyfriend and cats. Outside of her work as a software engineer, she is an avid birder and also enjoys playing volleyball and doing crosswords.