Last week, I got the baby.

The Mardi Gras souvenir was nesting deep in the layers of a Julie Anne’s raspberry king cake – the perfect place to be.

Mardi Gras is my holiday. I cannot say, “no” to king cake, and I love hearing the traditional “Mardi Gras Mambo.”

Barkus and Meoux was my first Shreveport parade. These pets can party. Dogs, cats, goats and even a mini horse were dressed to impress pet-loving crowds. See Page 21.

I’m a dog person.

It wasn’t until my sister rescued Herbie, a big ole Maine Coon cat, that my feelings started to change. He took a little warming up to as a kitten.

Herbie was curious, furious and quite the explorer. While kitten-sitting, I fussed at him for every annoyance and kept him in his cage over the night. That Maine Coon was doing his time in cat jail.

To make him more lovable, my sister and I gave him a voice. It sounded like an annoying teenager. “Mooommmm! Play time!” We couldn’t stop laughing as we made him into a person.

At age 4, Herbie is fluffy, fat and more mellow. Now he has a brother, Walt, an English bulldog to annoy him.

I’m a cat person, too, shamelessly following @catsofinstagram for cute kitty pictures to share with friends.

Dr. Andrea Everson of Robinson’s Rescue lights up anytime you mention pets, which is a lot considering she is a veterinarian. See Page 16 for more.

At the CityLife photo shoot, Everson stepped out of her car carrying three leashes. One black Labrador and twin pugs dressed to the nines followed behind her. She was calm, but the ends of her leashes were not.

I stood behind the photographers shouting, “Squirrel!” to get the shot. I thought it would be something the dogs would want to talk about.

Lydia Earhart

Editor The Forum and CityLife