A friend of mine surprised me for my birthday with
a kitten in 1999, when I was single, living with my sister.
First of all, who
does that? She did. I didn't want an animal. They require a lot
of work and attention and you have to feed them and all that stuff. So, I made sure that my sister and I co-owned her.
And this cat was not an easy cat. She wouldn't let
anyone, including me, pick her up, she was paranoid, incontinent, ate doors, and as a
kitten, was known to run at a person and climb straight up their back, walking
on their hunched shoulders until she was grabbed and then she would wriggle her
way out of their clutches. Once, she climbed up my sister's front, latched onto her boobs with
her claws and hung from them, leaving my sister standing helplessly, mouth open, loud screams blaring forth.
She was also known to leave gifts for us (poop) in
the bathroom sinks. Getting up in the
morning and sticking your toothbrush under the faucet, only to find a Vienna
sausage sitting in your sink, does not make an already difficult morning any
easier.
My sister named the cat Lolita. I thought that
sounded like a hooker, so when I took her to the vet, I called her Fuzzy-Kitty because I was embarrassed.
No offense if your name is Lolita. It's a lovely name.
Anyway, fast forward 12 years of being peed on,
pheromone therapy, four different litter boxes, two at a time, change in diet,
pills, etc. and we were ready to bid Fuzzy-Kitty farewell, however that might happen. And don't even get me started on her recurring
bronchitis that involved expensive shots every six weeks.
By that point, Steve and I were married and had
sole custody of FK. I started praying about what to do with her. I prayed off
and on for months. We were getting ready to adopt our third child and were in a
new home. I couldn't handle FK anymore.
I shared with my sister that we needed to get
rid of her, either find a home for her or put her down. My sister happily agreed to take her. Really? Hallelujah! Answered prayer! She had three dogs and a cat, so what was one more. Plus,
she knew FK and loved her.
My sister came to my house to do a yard sale one
weekend, planned to stay the night and the next day would take FK to live
with her forever.
That evening FK was outside lounging, probably watching rodents enter our house. I called her in, but she wouldn't
budge. I went down two hours later and called her, but she wouldn't come. I could see her,
but didn't feel like dealing with her scratches when I tried to pick her
up. It wouldn't be the first time she stayed out all night.
The next morning we rose bright and early to start our
yard sale. I wondered where FK was. Hours passed and I began to think
that something happened. Then I looked over and noticed puffs of fur on the
front lawn. They were FK's. Then I noticed scratches and blood stains on our
downspout.
Then I knew that that poor cat had been attacked by a coyote.
They're not uncommon in our area. She had tried to run up the downspout, but
without claws she couldn't do it.
We never saw her again.
It made me sad and I felt bad for leaving a
helpless, overweight, indoor cat with no claws out at night to be mauled by a
coyote. But part of me felt like that was my answer to prayer. Is that sick?
Maybe. But I don't care. I knew she would have been a spaz at my sister's house with
all the other animals. She would have been miserable. I like to think that she died quickly.
The next day, Steve and I drove to Menards, the Chicago-version of Home Depot, and bought new carpet for our house. We missed FK, but we were overjoyed with the thought of not having cat pee all over house anymore.
Oh man, I can't even imagine a coyote attacking. I don't live in that part of the country, so I will have to rely on your explanation and say you are probably right. That said I never really wanted a cat and after hearing all about yours am happy never to have one. Hope that doesn't sound awful, but just have never been a cat person, but more a dog one.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it is sick. I grew up in the country and we had the occasional wild animal mishap. We had bigger dogs that usually kept coyotes at bay, but sometimes one would sneak through.
ReplyDeleteMy dad's german shepard was ripped from his chain and hauled off by coyotes. Pretty crazy.
ReplyDeleteI'd call that the circle of life. We'd never leave our dogs out at night because the wolves and bears were known to come in and eat anything that had a heartbeat. Glad your prayers were answered. ;)
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way...I had one bad cat experience and that was enough for me.
ReplyDeletePets are a lot of hard work. It is one of the reason I had it put on our less that no pets were allowed. We just do too much traveling to worry about taking care of them. glad your prayers were answered!
ReplyDeleteThank goodness you wrote this! I snickered through the whole cat/coyote part of Friday's post, never knowing for certain if you were being serious about the coyote. I snickered through a fair part of this too...the boob clinging image was too much! I loved that you changed her name and then assured us that Lolita is a "lovely name".
ReplyDeleteThey are a lot of work. You think they won't be then BAM! Trying to find a sitter for a cat is a pain, especially when they destroy and mark everything with their scent. Gag.
ReplyDeleteCrap! That's crazy b/c coyotes aren't *that* big.
ReplyDeleteI had a cat once that was dysfunctional in its grooming, peed on my husband's things and pooped wherever. (I had her before we got married and she terrorized my roommate before she moved onto my husband.) I didn't know what to do with her until one night, she peed in my messenger bag---the bag that contained all of my residency applications----that had been typed on a typewriter. Yeah this was pre-digital. Since I wasn't going for urology, I was screwed and faced hours of work to redo them all. I was so angry that I I threw the declawed demon cat outside so that I wouldn't kill her. She never came back. I searched and put out food, but she was gone. And we lived blissfully pee-free ever more. Ellen
ReplyDeleteWe had a cat that was not quite right in the head. We called him Evil Kitty. We got him as a kitten from the animal shelter. He was not a nice kitty, but he was our original kitty-we got him around the time we got married, since we worked different shifts that way neither of us would ever be alone. There were times when I contemplated taking him back to the shelter, but I knew in my heart that no one would want to adopt him due to his "antisocial" personality! We ended up putting him down after we moved into a new house-he got very sick and didn't have a good quality of life.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe a coyote ate your cat. It does sound well timed given that you couldn't keep him & he was aging and had medical problems. It's starting to sound like my cats might be angels.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a lovely cat. Friendlier than most. (I'm not a fan of cats. Can you tell?)
ReplyDeleteWe've had coyotes get innumerable chickens and a 300 pound pig. They are everywhere around here. Little dogs are getting snatched while their owners look on. However, Fitz's story of a german shepard getting taken off its chain gave me the chills.
WHO GIVES A CAT AS A GIFT? A goldfish? Maybe. A gerbil? Creepy, but maybe. How about a Starbucks card? But a cat? I think this friend wanted you to smell like urine.
ReplyDeleteAhh, crazy animals. Can't live with the urine stench, can't kill em. Fortunately, our dog dispatched our lunatic cat that was incontinent and probably miserable.
ReplyDeleteBut that's a story for another time.
My cat was attacked by a coyote, but she still had her claws, so she swiped at him, and was set free...but then we had vet bills and antibiotics and all sorts of other stuff to save her.
ReplyDeleteYour coyote story is def a blessing in disguise...albeit a little sad.
okay, I am sorry, but that made me laugh. I've dealt with crazy cats and I've had a cat that loved no one but me. I love cats - but that story was kinda funny. I kind of think your prayers WERE answered.
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