Aug 31, 2025 • 3 min read

Eight Years

Eight years ago, two little balls of fur entered my life. I have had pets before in my life, but none have been as life-changing as these two, so I wanted to make a post to appreciate them. After rejecting my attempts to name them, my younger kid named them Red and Paperclip after a famous red paperclip.

Two kittens, Red and Paperclip, when they were tiny

Red is black and white and Red all over. Paperclip is long, thin, grey, and could probably be used to pick a lock in a pinch. They were rescues from one of the gulf islands, found by my friend David, and presumably sisters. From an early age, Paperclip showed her proclivity for being a shouldercat.

Grey kitten named Paperclip perched on my kid's shoulder

They were approximately six weeks old when they acquired me, and rolling back six weeks from them we calculate their birthday was last Thursday. I got them a new cat tree to celebrate, and was going to post about their birthday once they were on it, but they have been ignoring it for days now (even after sprinkling catnip on it), so I’m going to appreciate them anyway.

Red and black cat tree with two hammocks

When they were very smol they would cuddle with each other, which was very cute. These days they don’t spend much time next to each other, but if one is away (vet visit or nail trim) the other is distraught. I do wish they’d cuddle more with each other, but it’s their life.

Two kittens, Red and Paperclip, cuddled together

Despite mostly ignoring each other or play-fighting, when they’re resting (90% of their time), they are often in the exact same position or mirroring each other.

Two cats, Red and Paperclip, enjoying the sun

But Red has more of a tendency to curl up and express her roundness.

Black and white cat curled up on the carpet

While Paperclip likes to demonstrate that long cat is long.

Grey cat stretched out on the carpet

Red’s favourite thing is boxes, and cardboard generally.

Black and white cat overflowing a small box

Paperclip’s favourite thing is ear rubs.

Grey cat enjoying an ear rub

Both cats are expert snugglers. Red likes to rest her head on the “papa shelf” that my stomach forms when I recline.

Black and white cat snuggled on her person

While Paperclip is happy to lie down and be held.

Grey cat snuggled on her person

Here, Red is ferociously guarding 12 boxes of Star Trek memorabilia that my Aunt Jane bequeathed to me. A bit more than half was Kirk/Spock fanzines, which went to the Internet Archive to be digitized and shared with the world. The paperbacks went to prisoners, to keep them entertained until we can abolish prisons. The hardcovers went to a local thrift store to support VGH. I kept a few things to remember my aunt with.

Black and white cat rolling on her back on top of banker boxes

Paperslip’s favourite blanket for napping.

Grey cat curled up on a paisley blanket

Red demonstrating the fate of any random papers I leave around by napping on them.

Black and white cat sleeping on papers

Paperclip continues to be a shoulder cat to this day. Red has a cataract in one eye and doens’t have the coordination for it.

Grey cat perched on her person's shoulder

This summer, while visiting my sister in Pittsburgh, I got this tattoo to give me more opportunities to talk about my lovely cats. It is by far my most commented-on tattoo.

Tattoo of a red paperclip

And that brings us full circle. I hope you enjoyed these bundles of cuteness. I can’t even image getting through the past few years without them–we’ve kept each other together in so many ways.

Thank you for being here!

Post by: Dethe Elza 💜