This story was submitted by Susan, one of our wonderful volunteers. She coordinates the Pet Guardian Sponsorship program for Bobbi and the Strays. Thank You Susan!!!
When did this happen? When did I become a “cat” person?
I had always thought of myself as exclusively a “dog” person, having always had one in my life, and if you’re a “dog” person, you tend to look sideways at “cat” people.
I had always bought into the typical stereotype of what a cat was all about…aloof, unpredictable, and whenever I met someone’s cat, I’d ask “Does he bite?” That may not be a typical person’s first question, but one of my classmates in high school had a Siamese cat and I’d heard from mutual friends how it would lick your hand, tenderizing it I suspect, and then it would bite down.
You see, when you don’t have much personal experience with cats, you tend to think that the odd individual is the norm.
Are all cats as crazy as that Siamese? No. Does every cat disappear when company arrives? No. Are there gentle, loving, wonderful cats? YES!
Just when did my transformation from “dog” person to “dog AND cat” person begin?
Two years ago my daughters and I arrived at Animal Care and Control to rescue a dog for Bobbi. While we were waiting at the counter a woman came in with a small carrier with two four week-old kittens inside. The lady behind the desk kept explaining to the woman that they were too young, that they couldn’t keep them anywhere until they were eight weeks old, the adoptable age, and that their young lives would end once they entered the system.
Well, that was all my daughters had to hear. A quick call to Bobbi saying we would care for them until they were adoptable, a slightly longer call to my husband explaining the situation, and we left with dog and kittens in tow.
I’d strongly suggest that anyone wanting to care for a cat, or dog, read up on their care before they bring one home, but we didn’t have that luxury. Believing snippets of commercials and remembering stories we’d heard, we ran into some problems, not in caring for the kittens themselves, but with stupid things like dumping the contents of the litter box into the toilet, wasn’t it supposed to be flushable? After my husband took care of the very unpleasant task of “de-clumping” the toilet, it was time to log onto the internet for a crash course in Kittens 101.
Our introduction to kittens may have been off to a rocky start, but it changed all of our lives, and that of our dogs as well.
Whenever we’ve cared for a kitten in need we’ve had to compartmentalize our lives. Some of our dogs will gently lick and clean the kittens while we hold them, but others would be less enthusiastic. Sometimes the upstairs bedrooms will exclusively be the cat zone for a few months at a time, with my long-suffering husband taking up residence on the couch to keep the dogs company.
We’ve all come a long way in the last two years, read lots of books, and have cared for nearly 40 kittens during that time–newborns, sick ones, injured ones, well ones, ones who didn’t make it–and each of us has found parting with these little guys to be a painful moment in our lives. The day they leave our home to go to the shelter rips us apart. A new set of worries begins. How long will they be there? Will they love them as much as we have?
The reward? Seeing the look on someone’s face when they embrace their new family member, and in the rare instance, having the new family stay in touch with updates and photos–that’s just heaven.
Cats, dogs, people–we’re all the same in that we’re all unique individuals.
