Pets
The Cat is Mine. Not!
The cat never loved me
“Having a bunch of cats around is good. If you’re feeling bad, you just look at the cats, you’ll feel better because they know that everything is just as it is. There’s nothing to get excited about. They just know. They’re saviors.” — Charles Bukowski
My present walked up the steps and into my daughter’s room. And just like that, Mother’s Day was my daughter's cat then and forevermore.
A Beautiful White Cat Present
I decided that my Mother’s Day present was to be a shelter cat. My husband and I went to see who was available. In the cat house area of the shelter were several cats, all staring at us. One caught my eye.
It was a pure white, bright blue-eyed cat. The cat was sitting against the back of his cage, not saying a word. The information on the cage said the cat has been in the shelter for several weeks. I asked why the cat was still available.
The attendant looked at me and said, “White cats with blue eyes have issues.” “What issues?” I asked. “You know,” she said.
I didn’t know. She pulled the cat out for me to hold. He was so soft and warm, looking up at me with those beautiful, sad eyes. He seemed resigned to his fate. I handed the warm bundle back to the attendant. “We’ll take him,” I said. We completed the paperwork, paid the $5, and brought the cat home, where he immediately rejected me for my daughter.
Mother’s Day (or MD as we called him) was always wherever my daughter was. He waited for her to return from school each day by sleeping in her closet. MD did not come out of her room to hang with anyone else. He didn’t exist in our home unless she was there.
I figured out what his issues were. The white, blue-eyed cat was stone deaf. He was not afraid of any of the noisemakers that scared the other cats. When my daughter vacuumed, MD would watch her work enjoying the machine’s vibrations
The more cats you have, the longer you live. If you have a hundred cats, you’ll live 10 times longer than if you have 10. Someday this will be discovered, and people will have a thousand cats and live forever. It’s truly ridiculous. — Charles Bukowski
To College
When my daughter went to college, she left the cat with us. It took months of encouragement to get him to come out and visit with me, my husband and the other cats. He sat by the patio doors and look out at the world. When my daughter came home, he was in heaven for those few days appearing magically in whatever room she was in to stare at her and sit on her lap.
When my daughter was not home, the cat was barely active. MD would follow me around sometimes but not everywhere and not every day. I was an unsatisfying replacement for my kid.
My daughter graduated from college and went to school for her doctorate as a veterinarian. The deaf white cat lived quietly with us the entire time.
She moved to Atlanta and set up her household. After she was out of school for about a year, we got a call. “I want my cat,” she said. “What cat?” I said. “MD,” she said. “Ok, then,” I said. I laughed as I told my spouse. Shipping the cat would not be cheap as Mother’s Day was an old cat.
When we came in, the cat did not ignore me; he walked over and twined around my legs. My daughter had her companion back. The cat was back where he needed to be.
Both the kid and the cat were where they needed to be. Together. Win-win.We took the cat to the vet, got his health certificates, and shipped him to her as a ride-along on a private plane because he was so old.
The cat arrived safely in Atlanta. We did not send any of his things as my daughter told us she had new things for him.
True Love
When we went to visit her, the cat was much happier with her. He was more active and following her from room to room again. His eyes were bright, and his meows were clear. When we came in, the cat did not ignore me; he walked over and twined around my legs. My daughter had her companion back. The cat was back where he needed to be.
Both the kid and the cat were where they needed to be. Together. Win-win.
My books are available on Amazon.
I can be reached at https://www.tonicrowewriter.com/
