Plus and Minus a Few Pets

There were seven of us boys growing up and over the years we had quite a few pets. Our favorites were probably that old orange stripped tabby cat named Plus and a Weimeraner-lab mix dog named Minus.

How that old dog and cat got their names is a bit of a fluke. Brother number four, Joe, had taken our new dog to the rabies clinic for a shot. At the time we were still arguing over a name.  When the vet's assistant asked the name of the dog, our brother got tongue tied and stammered out that the dog was minus a name. Well that named the dog 'Minus' on the rabies vaccination cert and it stuck. Naturally a year later when that tabby wandered into our life and got along with the dog, he got named Plus.

Plus must have known who was responsible for how he got his name because after catting around all night he'd show up at the window nearest where brother Joe slept. We all still swear we'd hear that cat yowl at our brother, "Joe, Joe, Jooooe open the windooooow"