Cats and Dogs and Babies, Oh My!

John found this article online today (off of one of my blogroll links heehee). I feel like I could have written it myself, except the part about abandoning our three pets for a week with no dire consequences. I have to admit that if that had somehow happened to us, we would have come home to cat hair fluff balls all over and little else (ewww, I know, but it's true, Max and Petey are just biding their time.)

For those of you who might not know our family history, here is a pic of our cozy, furry crew PG (and minus me, I was taking the picture).


The couch has always been the "safe zone" for the cats. For some reason, they do not feel as threatened by Max there as anywhere else. I private hunch is that they are just too damn comfy to care.

So, anyway, back to our pet family history. Petey is the eldest of the bunch. She and I go way back. About ten years (this week, I think!) to be exact. I got Petey from some people who were found her as a stray kitten and were going to take her to the shelter. I was looking for a cat and gladly took her in. I have ALWAYS had at least one cat and I had just moved out of my parents' house and into my very own first apartment. And I needed the comfort of a furry housemate. Petey, though she can be standoffish, was a lovely roomie. She needed me and I needed her and it worked out great.

A few years later I acquired Suzy in an odd set of circumstances. I had also always grown up with a Siamese cat, and missed having one around. For those of you who do not have any experience with Siamese cats, they are entirely a breed unto themselves. They are beautiful cats with gorgeous coloring and fabulous blue eyes, and they know it. And exploit it. All Siamese except Suzy that is. But that is not germaine to the story, and I didn't know this about her at the time anyway. So, my birthday was coming up and I decided that I would love to have a Siamese. Now, normally I do not believe in spending a lot of money for any animal when there are so many who need a home at the shelters, but I really wanted a Siamese, and you just don't find those cats in a shelter. You have to buy them from a breeder. This story will explain why this was the first and last time I will EVER buy an animal from a breeder. So, I found a breeder who had several cute Siamese kittens for sale, and I went and picked one out for my birthday. The breeder showed me these cute kittens in his living room, which was clean and normal. I picked out a little female who was scrawny but cute, and named her Delia. (Stay with me here, yes, Delia.) I took Delia home and Petey FLIPPED! She hated having another cat in her home. But they adjusted over the course of a few weeks and things settled down. About a month after I brought Delia home I woke up one morning and couldn't find her. Eventually I did, on the bathroom floor, dead. I was so shocked and heartbroken!! Nothing was visably wrong with her, she just died. Well, since I had bought her from a breeder, I called him up and told him my tale. I wasn't looking for another cat, I just wanted to let him know what happened and see if he had any information as to why my cat would just die for no reason. Anyway, he must have thought I was looking for a replacement and told me that he didn't have anymore kittens. But he did have two older cats he would give me instead. "Older" in this case meant 1 and 2 years old, a mother and daughter, who had each already bred a few litters. So, I went over to his place again. This time he took me into his cat room. It was horrible! There were all these cages and several cats and it smelled like a horrible litter box! I felt terrible. He showed me the two cats. They were nearly identical. Mai Ling was the mother and had 3 toes on her right front paw. Sui Ling was the daughter and had three toes on her front left paw, and was cross eyed (probably from inbreeding, I would guess.) I was so horrified for them that I took them both home. Again, Petey wasn't happy, but she got over it. I called the cats Maizy and Suzy. Though all my cats are indoor cats, somehow Maizy got out of the house after only a few days with me. I put posters up all over the neighborhood and looked all over, but I never found her. So, that's how I ended up with Petey and Suzy. Who now love each other, but there were a few rough patches there for a while.

Enter Max, the massive black beast in the picture. John and I lived happily together with the two cats in our apartment for three years, but quietly we both longed for the romping, slobbery love only a canine can give you. So, when we bought our house we promptly went down to the Humane Society and got Max. Actually, we had been looking at shelter dogs for weeks before we closed on our home in anticipation. Anyway, Max stole our hearts with his big brown devoted eyes. And I happen to loooove labs, so there was that happy coincidence. Now, this time, Petey had just about had it with animals invading her space. She is considerably older now (in cat years) and she just lost it!!! She literally tried to kill Max, who is at least 8x her size. I had to take her to the vet for some kitty tranquilizers and put her in the "kitty psych ward" (now G's nursery, but then unused) for 6 weeks!! These days, I wouldn't say harmony reigns, but most of the time all three animals tolerate each other.

If you are still with me after all of that, I am finally at the point of my post. I have fought for and with all of these animals. I rescued all of them from a doomed future. And I love them. They have all given me quite a few headaches and heartaches, but that comes with the commitment of pet ownership. I like to think they all have a pretty good life now. However, now we have a sweet, innocent, fragile little baby. She loves all the animals dearly. In fact, one of her first true words was "Maaa" said while looking right at Max. She loves to pull on Max's snout and get handfuls of cat hair whenever she can. And for the most part the animals leave her alone. I can't say they love her, it is more an indifference to her. Sometimes when she is crying Petey will come to see what is wrong, with this poor, cute concerned attitude. And Max will give her doggy kisses sometimes.

But, oh, how annoying these animals have become since we brought G home!! These cuddly, furry, dirty animals. Who shed everywhere. Who have dirty feet that walk all over the floors my baby crawls on. Who don't always watch where they are going and walk right over her or knock her down when she is standing (Max). Who decide to pick a fight in the upstairs hall while I am this close to getting G down for an ever elusive nap! Who have lately decided that though our bedroom has been off limits for, oh, the last 5 years, they would love to nap on our bed everyday and leave it covered with cat hair (cats, obviously).

I have always firmly believed that having pets is a commitment. You can't just give up on them or give them away when it doesn't work out. Especially animals that you rescued-how could you doom them to that fate again?? They need you and depend on you (even the cats, who believe you need them really.) But, boy have I been close sometimes in the last 8 months!! I would love to have one day that I don't have to sweep up mounds of dog and cat hair just so G can crawl around without getting absolutely covered head to toe with it. I would love to not have to constantly be pushing Max away because he just doesn't get how big he is and that he is going to hurt her! Oh, and to have all those interrupted naps back!! In fact, Max woke her up just this afternoon with loud barking.

But, here are a couple of things I know. I know that I honestly believe that it is a good thing for children to grow up with animals. It helps make them compassionate toward animals. It prevents a fear of animals, while teaching proper respect for them at the same time. And, I honestly believe from my own experience, that in some children it helps prevent allergies from developing. And I do know that I still believe that adopting an animal into your home is a lifelong commitment (although this is a decision every pet owner has to make for their own families.) So, even though they make me nuts somedays and make me want to scream at moments, I do love these furry guys, and G does love them too, and they will be staying in our happy, cozy, fur ridden home. But this IS a warning to all of my friends who have "furbabies" but no human babies yet. Your relationship with your animals WILL change after having children. Accept it. It happens.