Pussy

I am NOT what you would call a cat person. I am deathly allergic and can't abide the way they insinuate themselves all over you, even pushing their ass into your face. In my worse nightmare, for some neanderthal reason, I see a cat that I am calmly petting, suddenly turn to me in fury, lips peeling back from sharp, snarling teeth. As it clamps its teeth into my hand, all four paws reach out, sinking all the claws into my bare forearm.  I am unable to scream (given it is a dream), and I frantically trying to shake the evil bastard from my arm. Fortunately before the blood starts spurting, I wake up....
Now that said, I have wanted a PET for a long time. Finally, one day last December, I got one. Yes, this is a stuffed dog from Ikea. I loved him and was so joyous in the car on the way home, saying out loud, "NOW I don't have to get an actual animal!"  Really, I don't actively HATE cats. I wouldn't hurt one for any reason, and would not want to see one hurt.  I like those cute kitty videos on You Tube, but would be loathe to bring one into my home....
        The day before I went to Ikea, my friend Natasha moved to Alabama and stayed in a hotel the night before her truck left.  When she went back the next morning, her two cats, Ando and Juki, were nowhere to be found....so she had to leave them behind.  She had rescued these kitties after the big Hurricane in Houston a few years back, but I didn't know she had left them until I went by after Ikea, to pick up some plants she'd left me.

There, calmly sitting in a corner of the yard, was Ando, a gorgeous grey Russian Blue kitty. I knew he was probably freaked out, as he had always been an inside cat.  Natasha's house backed up to a wash, full of coyotes and javalinas and other kitty eaters, so against my better judgement, I temporarily lost my sanity, and got the cat carrier that Natasha had left, walked over and scooped him up and into the carrier.

       I sat in my car, going, "Fuck!  Now what?"  I talked back to the little shit as he yowled in th back seat.  We drove to Safeway for a litter pan and some food, and Ando came to my house.  Here is a little video of his first day:

He stayed in the garage for about 24 hours, but when he got behind the dryer, where I had recently destroyed a pack rat nest, I decided to move him in the house.  Plus, this was late December, and it is damn cold in Tucson in December. I left him and his paraphernalia in the tiled guest bathroom and he was perfectly happy there....Then I left the door open by accident, and he ventured out and within a few hours he had made himself at home. He played with me, and sat in my lap. I avoided touching my face, but I wasn't all sneezy and stuffed up like I normally am around cats.

Since Natasha was out of state, and I had no way to get Ando to her, I put an ad on Craigslist. I soon had several requests for him. I picked a single mom named DG and she came over to meet him, then she came again the next day with her kids to see if Ando was a fit. He was, and they took him home that night. I was a little sad to see him go, and everyone on Facebook was convinced I was gonna be a cat mommy, but REALLY I do not WANT to be an old Cat Lady.  I am friends with DG on Facebook and she posts pictures of Ando every so often. He looks VERY happy, I am thrilled to say.

        About the time Ando was getting adopted, someone found his sister, Juki, a pitch black kitty, who I had never even seen at Natasha's.  She was definitely not as social as Juki. When the finder called and asked what "I" wanted to do (Natasha's family had hired a finder and given him my phone number). I didn't feel right letting Juki go to a shelter, so I had the finder bring her to me.  I put her in tile bathroom and the first time I went to check on her, she was gone! Not in the tub, not in the trashcan, not in the big box I had put in there for her, the cabinet doors close securely so I had no idea what had happened until I head her rustling around in the vanity.  I open the door, and there she is, all nestled in my clean towels.  She had crawled UNDER the vanity, up the drain pipe hole, and made herself a hidey hole!  I let her stay, but left the cabinet doors open. She was not a brave cat and came out very rarely. 

      I was able to entice her out with treats, but almost as soon as she got it, she'd scamper back to safety...and frankly, as allergic as I was to this cat, it is a good thing she didn't want to play.  She did get over it a little bit when she felt how comfy my couch was....Here is a little clip where she is, according to my Cat-people friends, showing me her love...Me I think she was trying to make me pee. 

She also had a habit of vomiting.  Granted, she had not eaten cat food in a week, so perhaps she was having issues with that, but the vomit and shit were DISGUSTING!!!! I was happy to leave her in the bathroom.

Within a couple of days, I had found her a nice computer geek who wanted an older cat to keep his new kitty company, and it was HELL dragging her out so he could meet her. My arms were scratched to hell - even though she only had back leg claws.   When he brought in a carrier, I was worried about how I was gonna shove her in while maintaining skin integrity, but strangely enough, she dropped in to the new hidey hole like she was medicated with xanax!

After they were both gone, I bleached my bathroom and cleaned the rest of the house....and that was that.  petless once again....except for my little stuffy......