I changed my mind...I am going to tell you about my pets in order of seniority. Since Cassidy is the oldest, she gets to go first.
Cassidy is my first pet as an adult. I had many family pets growing up, but Cassidy was my first true responsibility. I moved out when I was 18, and when I was in my second apartment I started to really want a cat. Never mind that I am terribly allergic...I am a cat lover through and through. My best friend is also a cat lover and knew how much I wanted a kitty all my own. I was so jealous that she had one, and I kept thinking that I needed to do something about my kitty-less existence.
That Christmas, Darcy somehow made arrangements with my then boyfriend and our landlord to allow me to have a pet. She did this without my knowing, and kept telling me that I was going to love my Christmas present. I kept pestering her about getting me a cat, knowing full well that it was a pipe dream. I never figured in a million years that she would get me a cat for Christmas.
Lo and behold, she and our friend Gabe showed up on Christmas Eve with a litter box and tools, cat food, and the most darling little ball of long haired tabby fur EVER. She had Cassidy in her coat pocket and let her down on the ground as soon as she walked in the door.
Cassidy promptly did two things. First, she went straight to an ornament box and peed in it. She clearly needed to go after a long ride, and clearly knew that one should always pee in a box if one is available. Immediately after she peed in the box, she came straight to me, ran up my jeans and shirt and perched on my shoulder. Evidently she knew I was to be her person.
When Cassidy was a kitten, I used to take her everywhere with me in the car. I figured this would make it easier to take her places, and it worked until she was a couple of years old. But as a kitten, she was my constant companion (weather permitting).
We did have a scary trip that put an end to all unsecured car trips. I had a Saturn car at the time and we were driving down the freeway. That model of Saturn had power windows, and the switches were in the center console. One of them would roll the driver side window down in a flash with a single touch of a button. Of course, she jumped on the button and leaped out the window. Somehow, I caught her tail and pulled her back in. It's a wonder we didn't get in a wreck! To this day, I cannot believe it. I NEVER have reflexes like that.
Cassidy and I have had a few other scary incidents in our time together. There was this time that we were living alone in this awesome little in-law house in the country. Most of the time I would sleep with all the windows and doors open to conserve energy, and she loved to sit in the window. So this one night I heard an awful scream and came running to the living room. There was a mountain lion on the deck and my kitty in the window separated only by a screen. She was so scared that she was stiff as a bored and peed all over the window sill. Not thinking, I grabbed her and ran to the only room in the house that was not wide open - the bathroom. We spent the night in the bathtub scared to death. I did not have a phone in there and was too freaked to leave the room, so it was a long night. The next day I found semi-shredded screens and deep gouges in my deck, but it must have given up and not bother to come in the house.
Cassidy has lived a fairly exciting life, as you can see already. While she is mainly a house cat, she has had opportunity to be an outdoor kitty as well. When I met DH and moved to his place, she had a dog door and a giant field. She never went far, but she did learn how to hunt. She would often bring home gifts in the middle of the night. Always live gifts. Many a baby bird, mole, and mouse were deposited in the bed at 2 am.
One time she brought a mouse in the house and set it in her food dish. I came home and found her giving the mouse a bath while the mouse ate kibble. I guess she was bringing home friends as opposed to trying to kill. And then there was the time she was treed by a squirrel. Cassidy has never had good balance, so she never bothered to climb trees. But she must have pissed off this squirrel big time because DH came home and found her in a tree and the squirrel on the ground barking at her ferociously. It was hilarious.
Cassidy really doesn't like other cats, but she is very fond of dogs. When DH and I met, he had a cat. It was a really great cat and he brought it to my place. Cass beat the crap out of this poor cat so much that he finally took it home. It was later confiscated by his ex-wife, so we were never a 2 cat household. When we lived at his place (the one with the dog door), I would often come home from work to find Cassidy and one to three neighborhood dogs lounging around the living room. I guess she liked to have guests during the day. Eventually we had to make the door smaller because her daytime parties kept getting bigger.
After a few years, we finally decided to buy a house and moved to the city. Literally the first day, DH brought home our first dog and Cassidy's world totally changed. Instead of a dog she invited, this was a puppy she did not ask for. Poor Dino had to go to the vet on two occasions for repairs. The first time was when she sliced his ear, the second was when she scratched his eyeball. Since he was already deaf, blindness was not a great option. We discussed getting her declawed, but eventually decided against it. Instead, I started using SoftPaws and Dino stopped getting hurt.
Cassidy is a really sweet girl when she wants to be, but she has a mean streak and holds a grudge. The one thing she doesn't forgive is people (other than me) telling her not to scratch furniture. My friend Mary gave her an instruction about not scratching furniture once, and Cassidy found a way to get back at her. She went outside, caught a live lizard, deposited it in Mary's purse, and hissed at her. Mary and I were in hysterics when this took place. It was so deliberate!
My mom has also given the scratching instruction many times, and she and Cass have a somewhat challenged relationship because of it. One time when mom was here and shortly after a "No!" was issued, Cass went over and sat staring at mom's brand new shoes that were on the floor. She stared long and hard until suddenly the familiar barfing sound started up. Yup. She puked right in mom's new shoe. It was awful and hilarious at the same time. We couldn't believe it.
Aside from being a vengeful kitty, she is also very loving. She sleeps on DH's head every night without fail. And every evening when I get home from work, she greets me at the door. She will always come when called, but often just far enough so that you know she heard you and then will turn around and ignore you. Very cat-like. One of the oddest things about her is that she loves when you tug her tail. It makes her happier than any other form of petting possible. Once I taught that trick to my mom and MIL, she decided that both were okay in her book.
And probably the strangest Cassidy fact of all: She is very agreeable about litter box switches. For ages I was in search of the perfect litter box that would require little cleaning and no stinkiness. I changed her box as often as once a month, and she never freaked. Most cats have a complete meltdown when you switch out their litter, much less their box. Not Cass. She would use whatever was there. Eventually I found the Litter Robot, which is the most genious invention of the 21st century. No stink, no cleaning, just empty the drawn every week or so and it's good to go. Cass loves having clean sand all the time.
Over the last few weeks, Cass started throwing up every night. She was always a barfy kitty, but this was becoming a nightly occurance. I won't go into too much detail right now, but $750 later, I have recently learned that she has cancer in her small intestine and she cannot have surgery because her blood won't clot. The vet doesn't know how much time she has left, but she didn't think it was much. Maybe a couple of months if we are lucky.
Upon learning this news, DH went to the store and bought her every stinky can or pouch of kitty stuff he could find. Cass is eating like a queen and has no clue that she is sick. But she is so skinny now. This is really hard for me to handle, but there isn't much that I can do about it. Nothing, really. Originally we weren't going to do surgery but I changed my mind at the last minute. Then we found out that she wouldn't survive surgery. So here we are, trying to make her last time as happy as we can.
I love my kitty so very much. Can you tell?
Dammit I wish I could figure out how to add a picture! I will figure it out and add it later.
Cassidy is my first pet as an adult. I had many family pets growing up, but Cassidy was my first true responsibility. I moved out when I was 18, and when I was in my second apartment I started to really want a cat. Never mind that I am terribly allergic...I am a cat lover through and through. My best friend is also a cat lover and knew how much I wanted a kitty all my own. I was so jealous that she had one, and I kept thinking that I needed to do something about my kitty-less existence.
That Christmas, Darcy somehow made arrangements with my then boyfriend and our landlord to allow me to have a pet. She did this without my knowing, and kept telling me that I was going to love my Christmas present. I kept pestering her about getting me a cat, knowing full well that it was a pipe dream. I never figured in a million years that she would get me a cat for Christmas.
Lo and behold, she and our friend Gabe showed up on Christmas Eve with a litter box and tools, cat food, and the most darling little ball of long haired tabby fur EVER. She had Cassidy in her coat pocket and let her down on the ground as soon as she walked in the door.
Cassidy promptly did two things. First, she went straight to an ornament box and peed in it. She clearly needed to go after a long ride, and clearly knew that one should always pee in a box if one is available. Immediately after she peed in the box, she came straight to me, ran up my jeans and shirt and perched on my shoulder. Evidently she knew I was to be her person.
When Cassidy was a kitten, I used to take her everywhere with me in the car. I figured this would make it easier to take her places, and it worked until she was a couple of years old. But as a kitten, she was my constant companion (weather permitting).
We did have a scary trip that put an end to all unsecured car trips. I had a Saturn car at the time and we were driving down the freeway. That model of Saturn had power windows, and the switches were in the center console. One of them would roll the driver side window down in a flash with a single touch of a button. Of course, she jumped on the button and leaped out the window. Somehow, I caught her tail and pulled her back in. It's a wonder we didn't get in a wreck! To this day, I cannot believe it. I NEVER have reflexes like that.
Cassidy and I have had a few other scary incidents in our time together. There was this time that we were living alone in this awesome little in-law house in the country. Most of the time I would sleep with all the windows and doors open to conserve energy, and she loved to sit in the window. So this one night I heard an awful scream and came running to the living room. There was a mountain lion on the deck and my kitty in the window separated only by a screen. She was so scared that she was stiff as a bored and peed all over the window sill. Not thinking, I grabbed her and ran to the only room in the house that was not wide open - the bathroom. We spent the night in the bathtub scared to death. I did not have a phone in there and was too freaked to leave the room, so it was a long night. The next day I found semi-shredded screens and deep gouges in my deck, but it must have given up and not bother to come in the house.
Cassidy has lived a fairly exciting life, as you can see already. While she is mainly a house cat, she has had opportunity to be an outdoor kitty as well. When I met DH and moved to his place, she had a dog door and a giant field. She never went far, but she did learn how to hunt. She would often bring home gifts in the middle of the night. Always live gifts. Many a baby bird, mole, and mouse were deposited in the bed at 2 am.
One time she brought a mouse in the house and set it in her food dish. I came home and found her giving the mouse a bath while the mouse ate kibble. I guess she was bringing home friends as opposed to trying to kill. And then there was the time she was treed by a squirrel. Cassidy has never had good balance, so she never bothered to climb trees. But she must have pissed off this squirrel big time because DH came home and found her in a tree and the squirrel on the ground barking at her ferociously. It was hilarious.
Cassidy really doesn't like other cats, but she is very fond of dogs. When DH and I met, he had a cat. It was a really great cat and he brought it to my place. Cass beat the crap out of this poor cat so much that he finally took it home. It was later confiscated by his ex-wife, so we were never a 2 cat household. When we lived at his place (the one with the dog door), I would often come home from work to find Cassidy and one to three neighborhood dogs lounging around the living room. I guess she liked to have guests during the day. Eventually we had to make the door smaller because her daytime parties kept getting bigger.
After a few years, we finally decided to buy a house and moved to the city. Literally the first day, DH brought home our first dog and Cassidy's world totally changed. Instead of a dog she invited, this was a puppy she did not ask for. Poor Dino had to go to the vet on two occasions for repairs. The first time was when she sliced his ear, the second was when she scratched his eyeball. Since he was already deaf, blindness was not a great option. We discussed getting her declawed, but eventually decided against it. Instead, I started using SoftPaws and Dino stopped getting hurt.
Cassidy is a really sweet girl when she wants to be, but she has a mean streak and holds a grudge. The one thing she doesn't forgive is people (other than me) telling her not to scratch furniture. My friend Mary gave her an instruction about not scratching furniture once, and Cassidy found a way to get back at her. She went outside, caught a live lizard, deposited it in Mary's purse, and hissed at her. Mary and I were in hysterics when this took place. It was so deliberate!
My mom has also given the scratching instruction many times, and she and Cass have a somewhat challenged relationship because of it. One time when mom was here and shortly after a "No!" was issued, Cass went over and sat staring at mom's brand new shoes that were on the floor. She stared long and hard until suddenly the familiar barfing sound started up. Yup. She puked right in mom's new shoe. It was awful and hilarious at the same time. We couldn't believe it.
Aside from being a vengeful kitty, she is also very loving. She sleeps on DH's head every night without fail. And every evening when I get home from work, she greets me at the door. She will always come when called, but often just far enough so that you know she heard you and then will turn around and ignore you. Very cat-like. One of the oddest things about her is that she loves when you tug her tail. It makes her happier than any other form of petting possible. Once I taught that trick to my mom and MIL, she decided that both were okay in her book.
And probably the strangest Cassidy fact of all: She is very agreeable about litter box switches. For ages I was in search of the perfect litter box that would require little cleaning and no stinkiness. I changed her box as often as once a month, and she never freaked. Most cats have a complete meltdown when you switch out their litter, much less their box. Not Cass. She would use whatever was there. Eventually I found the Litter Robot, which is the most genious invention of the 21st century. No stink, no cleaning, just empty the drawn every week or so and it's good to go. Cass loves having clean sand all the time.
Over the last few weeks, Cass started throwing up every night. She was always a barfy kitty, but this was becoming a nightly occurance. I won't go into too much detail right now, but $750 later, I have recently learned that she has cancer in her small intestine and she cannot have surgery because her blood won't clot. The vet doesn't know how much time she has left, but she didn't think it was much. Maybe a couple of months if we are lucky.
Upon learning this news, DH went to the store and bought her every stinky can or pouch of kitty stuff he could find. Cass is eating like a queen and has no clue that she is sick. But she is so skinny now. This is really hard for me to handle, but there isn't much that I can do about it. Nothing, really. Originally we weren't going to do surgery but I changed my mind at the last minute. Then we found out that she wouldn't survive surgery. So here we are, trying to make her last time as happy as we can.
I love my kitty so very much. Can you tell?
2 comments:
sunny
I love your blog on my grandcat.
keep them coming, MOM
She's a sweetie and I love that she is lounging in what appears to be a dog crate...is this a they were not invited to her house, so she's going to take over their crate kind of deal?
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