Monday, July 27, 2009

Introducing . . .

a new cat!

I haven't been blogging much during the last few days because I've been preoccupied with an addition to our family. A new cat!

Our cat Jasper passed away unexpectedly March. It was a very hard thing for me to deal with. In fact, I'm still dealing with his loss everyday. My best friend that was with me everyday was suddenly gone and I didn't know why. I didn't post much about it here because I didn't want to be a Debbie Downer. Three weeks after Jasper passed away, my childhood dog Rascal had to be put to sleep. A few weeks after that, we discovered a growth in Kitty's ear. And then a few weeks after that, RDog's childhood cat, Sneakers, passed away. It was a sad few months for these two pet lovers. At one point I vowed that there would be no more animals. I just fall in love with them and then they leave me. But my heart is getting used to the loss. I'm still sad everyday but I am getting used to the sadness. Kitty's growth appears to be benign as it has not increased since we first spotted it. Gradually, the desire to open our home and hearts to more animals has returned.

Last week, RDog suddenly turned to me and said, "If I saw a stray cat on the side of the road, would you be mad if I brought it home?" I said of course not. I have a big soft spot for cats in need. Little did I know that days later a cat in need would enter into our life.

Last Thursday, a teacher friend posted on her Facebook page about an abandoned cat crying in the rain on her doorstep. As she lives with a room mate, she was not able to take the cat in. Apparently, her neighbor had a new girlfriend who moved in with her three cats. She left last week but didn't take the cats with her. He was taking care of two indoor cats but the third was left outside to fend on its own. Even when the owner was there, she wasn't taking care of the outdoor cat.

I went over Friday morning to meet the cat. She is a beautiful, friendly thing. While there, the neighbor came over. The cat growled at him. Not a good sign. I told him that I was thinking about taking the cat as no one was taking care of her. He just shrugged and said, "I don't care, it's not my cat. I've got two more inside. Want them?" That sealed the deal. This cat was coming home with me.

It was a rough weekend. At times I wonder if I was crazy to be doing this. The new cat and Kitty had to be separated until a vet visit could be scheduled in case the new cat had something that Kitty could catch. I was mostly worried about feline leukemia. I called just about every vet in the city looking for an appointment, but they were all booked up, some for weeks! I was finally able to get her this morning in to see a vet. It was in the nick of time because I soon discovered that the new cat has what appears to be a urinary tract infection. She was using the litter box a lot but not much else was coming out. Then she started doing her business in weird places outside the box. Then I noticed that there was blood in her urine. Very scary stuff, especially as Jasper suffered from similar symptoms for months.

But there is good news. The new cat tested negative for feline leukemia. The vet also found a scar on her belly which means she was spayed. She is still at the vet so they can get a urine sample. But I am confident that we can deal with UTI after dealing with a much worse case in Jasper. Urinary problems are more severe in males. In fact with Jasper, as a last resort we had to have basically a sex change done to him.

Tonight, she and Kitty should be able to meet for the first time. They are itching to see each other after smelling and talking through the door for several days. Hopefully I can get some sleep tonight. I was so worried about her after finding blood in her urine late last night, that I was up all night checking on her. We did have a bonding session early this morning. I collapsed on the couch, feeling so tired and worn out from worry. She crawled on me and snuggled in. Our cats have never been snugglers so this was a treat. She got lots of chin scratches. In fact, when I would stop petting her she would gently place her paw on my face as to say, "please don't stop." She's an affectionate little thing.

Now that we are sure that she is staying, we have to decide on a name. In her former neglected life she was known as Pantera. She needs a girlier name. I am leaning towards Lucy. RDog likes Coco. It's not after Chanel, it's from Conan O'Brien. Does anyone have any girly name suggestions?

13 comments:

  1. I have a cat, Mollie, that looks just like your new one- and she is all about snuggling and telling me when she wants to be petted! It seems that your new cat my be the same breed as mine based on the way you descibed her and the way she looks, but I am not an expert. The breed is Chartreux and if you google it you can find some of their characteristics/ personality traits.

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  2. Awww, congratulations! I like the name Coco (and love Coco O'Brien). It's perfectly girly. She also looks like she could be fabulously chic, like a Bebe?

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  3. SUCH a cute cat! She is adorable. I like both CoCo and Lucy :)

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  4. Coco is such an elegant and simultaneously funny name (we love Coco O'Brien, too!) for such a gorgeous kitty. She is so fortunate to have landed with such a loving adoptive family! Good on you, KDot, for saving her from the indifferent turd man. And congratulations!

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  5. I like both Coco and Lucy...they both sound cute but still girly. It must have been very hard to lose so many pets, especially Jasper. I have only had Po for a year, but he is a part of my family and I know it will be unbearable to lose him. I really wish that animals life spans were as long as humans...

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  6. Congrats on the new addition to your family!! I was just at the pet store and they had tons of fur babies available for adoption.. I want another one so badly but two is enough right now. I hope the meeting between the two kitties goes well!

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  7. Coco is cute. You are lucky she is so sweet considering she goes outdoors. Awww...

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  8. I am partial to the name Lucy, of course. :) Congrats on the new kitty - she is so pretty!!

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  9. Thank you everyone for your kind words. Today she is home from the vet with medicine to make her feel better. She only cried for about an hour last night, which was an improvement. I have big dark circles under my eyes from this little one.

    Melissa: Interesting info about the Chartreux. I googled the breed and she does have some things in common with them; she has huge paws and I have noticed that she watches what goes on my computer screen. They are suppose to be very observant. Maybe she has a bit of Chartreux in her.

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  10. Lady Buttons: He was a turd man. I suspect that the reason that she was booted outside was because she had a UTI. She was probably peeing outside the litterbox and they were too lazy to do something about it. All she needs are two pills everyday for two weeks. The pills cost $10. What a bunch of turd people!

    Zoe: Thank you for your kind words. It has been a hard year. We were kind of prepared for Rascal and Sneakers passing as they lived a long life. Jasper's death hit us hard.

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  11. Summerilla: The two cats met last night for a short visit. It was ok, they only hissed a little bit. New cat is used to cats. Kitty came up and smelled her and she just yawned.

    Gigi: I hope that she will become an indoor cat. I wuld worry too much having her outside.

    Heidi: we have good taste in names!

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  12. I too know about the love and loss of pets, we bring them into our lives and they become like people to us, only to leave us too soon. I'm so glad you opened your home to the new kitty, there are so many people out there who have such disdain for cats and I really don't know why as they can such good companions.

    I lost my very best friend Jack who was a beautiful American Bobtail that my father brought home for me when I was 12. Somehow he developed a complete blockage in his urinary tract and had to be put down, it happened over Thanksgiving weekend when I was 19, and I'm sure that something else could have been done but the emergency place we took him to told us that that was all they could do.

    I also hope that she will be a totally indoor cat as I've heard too many horror stories of things happening to outdoor kitties, I really think they deserve the very best, which is to be sheltered from awful things!

    xo

    Jennifer
    http://milliedeel.blogspot.com/

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  13. Thank you for the lovely message Jennifer.

    Our Jasper had a urinary blockage, actually many. He went through many surgeries and in the end, they completely removed his sex organs. He was technically a girl. It gave us two more years with him and was worth the 1000s we had to spend in vet bills. I swore that there would never be another boy cat in the house. They are more prone to blockage. I just couldn't go through that again.

    New cat is having a hard time adjusting to indoor life. She really wants to go outside! I'm staying strong though.

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