I'm cat-lonely. I know it doesn't make any sense because, hey, I have seven cats. Seven. Gus, Boris, Taylor, Dylan, Brianna, Sophie, Blue. But you know what? That seems like nothing. Yes, I'm still grieving for Katy and Phoebe, but there's no way I could replace them.
I want an orange cat. Specifically, I want the cat, Saffy, that Xman refused to give me and the cat had died of FIP within a year of my moving out. I raised Saffy from a kitten, just as I did Gus.
Now. Here's the problem.
I saw this cat online today. I went to meet him. He's a big old boy and when I picked him up, he drooled all over me:
He got so hyped up and excited that he bit me. On the face. My confidence was badly shaken and he immediately knew he'd done something wrong.It took me a couple of minutes to recoup. And when I did, I hear this fierce mewing for attention on the other side of the aisle and I saw this:
By the way, I think I have named both of them Charlie. There can be only one.
Charlie 1 (the biter) is now in ten day's quarantine. Nothing will happen to him for the next ten days and I can decide if I want to adopt him or not.
But when I remember that I brought up the sweetest cats in the world from kittenhood, I know that the effort is worth.
Unfortunately, I think Charlie 1's days are numbered once out of quarantine.
And to further add to the mix, I have long been pondering getting a dog. I like dogs. I loved MD's Shannon. Lana was a bit much to take but she was a sweet little maniac, even if she nearly poisoned herself with a box of tea bags.
Today, I actually called about this guy. He's a dead ringer for the dog I had when I was a kid:
He had just been adopted.I'm not asking to be talked down off a ledge, although I probably should be.
However, if you'd like to weigh in on the cat issue, I'd like to hear.
Here's the dilemma:
Charlie 1: Older, set in his ways, doesn't control himself when hyped up and for some reason, I think he and Blue would butt (huge) heads. However, if I don't adopt him, he's probably doomed.
Charlie 2: A kitten. A loud adorable kitten who settled himself down monorail style on my arm when I held him. He probably has ear mites. He probably has worms. I think Gus, Brianna, and Dylan would adopt him and take care of him. I think Sophie would freak out and I think Taylor will probably try to ambush him. But I could train him up from a wee kitten and he would like turn out much like Dylan, Gus, and Boris - all of which I raised from kittenhood.
Sigh. Too many cats. And I can't save them all. I HATE that.
7 comments:
You can't afford another cat. You, by your own admission, don't do the medical things that the cats you already have need. When one of them gets really sick you can't afford it. If you become unemployed again, you won't be able to afford it double.
You can't afford it. It is not fair to the cats you already have.
Sorry, tough love is tough. Z.
I say delay any new cat adoptions until after Dylan is gone. I can't give a good reason, though, it just seems that would be the day you might need another cat instead of want one.
I'm glad Z said it, because I don't have the courage to, since now that you've seen them, you can't not take them. Perhaps you could take them and find good homes for them.
But z's right. I was hoping that eventually you'd get down to two cats, and then you'd have so much more flexibility in finances and living arrangements, but I guess that's not your fate.
On the other hand, perhaps it's the cats that keep you alive and moving. Maybe you wouldn't do it for yourself alone. (But hey! ONE cat did it for me in those dark years.)
Re dog - Dogs are much more expensive than cats vet-wise.
Another consideration: Stress is the absolute worst thing for cats. The addition of a stranger, cat OR dog, could spell doom for some of your already older and fragile friends.
Please don't take this the wrong way, but if you can't afford vet care for the cats you already have, which is understandable, seeing how fast the bills add up once just one cat gets sick, adding one or two more is not doing any of them any favors.
Thank you for commenting honestly.
I am going to say something so relatively "airy fairy" that you might think I've been kidnapped by aliens and replaced by a pod person.
My new mantra for myself is: Change Your Own Narrative. Just that.
I have realized (again) that I'm writing this story (as you are writing yours, as we all write our own story that we tell ourselves, about ourselves). If I don't change the narrative, Timmy is going to keep going down the freakin' well.
Just sayin'.
love you,
RCW
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