Well, the vet school kid (VSK) managed to get past me on this one, and I am glad that she did. I have always been sort of allergic to cats. It has been the sneezing, eye-itching sort of allergy that makes you want to rub your eyes until you look like a raccoon, and has made me want to stay away from kitties unless forced by circumstance or politeness to be in the same room. (Once upon a time I had various cats as pets, and never knew what was wrong with my eyes. How stupid is that?)
In the intervening decades, I have taken some meds for allergies, and avoided provoking agents with fervor. How stupid have I been about re-introducing allergens to my life? As stupid as I was about the allergic reaction in the first place. VSK has brought her cats to my house for so long that I just take an Alavert any time I know that I will visit her, or that she will be coming home for a visit. Apparently, if you stay away from stuff that makes you sneeze and wheeze, you can get over it- who knew?
Enter the cat. VSK was at work when two morons came in with their two cats. The morons had had the cats for a number of years, and had recently acquired a couple of little yippy dogs. Now they realized that they had too many pets (2 dogs, 2 cats- sounds about right to me) and wanted the Vet to euthanize the cats. They were tired of them, were switching to dogs, and wanted to be nice and tidy about it. Kill the cats, please, sir. Now, if you can explain this kind of thinking to me, I don't want to hear from you because you are obviously also a very damaged person who may be beyond redemption.
The Vet said no, and managed to get the morons to sign a release that they were relinquishing all rights to the cats forever and ever and then he took the cats away from them. One of his regular customers agreed right away to take the Himalayan, but that left the neutered Siamese. That's right- these weren't just some goofy looking cats- these guys are beautiful! The Siamese lived at the clinic for a couple of days, generally being a good little cat- until VSK thought he might be better off wtih me. She snuck him home- "just to give him a break from having to live in a cage at night" for a couple of days. He spent the first few days upstairs, avoiding everyone- especially the dogs. Who could blame him? I'd be bitter about dogs, if they had usurped my life.
Little by little, he came out to visit, and accept pats, and cookies, and ear skritching, and cozy sitting on the couch, and snugging up close on the bedspread. Now he sleeps part time in his new fuzzy bed, and part time on his pillow on my bed.
This little cat is the sweetest, best tempered, prettiest cat anyone could ever hope for. He stays off the counter, uses the litter box correctly, scratches only his scratching post or box, plays with his toys, and enjoys a little catnip now and then. He'll voluntarily sit in your lap while you read or compute, and he avoids the bird. Yes, she calls him. He is too smart to fall for it, so far, but she is hopeful. There is a dangerous glint in her eye when she calls, "Psss, psss, psss- here kitty!" I don't think her intentions are benign.
I hope the morons are happy with their choice, because I sure am. Without their idiocy, I'd never have met this honey of an animal. And I hope that good old fashoined Karma doesn't hit them too hard when they are older and out of fashion- and that they don't get exchanged for the newer, snazzier version.
So now, when I arrive at home after work, I am greeted by a bird that yells, "Hi!" and lets me know if there are any messages on the answering machine, three joyful, bouncing dogs who act as though they would throw confetti if they had any, and a chatty cat. He also runs up to say hi. Not a bad way to live, in my opinion.
