A Tale of Seven Cats
My friend Julie sometimes shakes her head at me and says, "Diane. You could say no."Sigh.
No is not easy for me. So when another friend asked if I could take care of her cat for FIVE weeks so she could go to Lithuania, I said yes. To be fair, I thought her cat would get used to our cats and would just be one of the crowd. Silly me. My friend's cat is an only cat, living alone with a single woman in a one bedroom condo. Why did I think she could handle a five bedroom house with four other cats? When I tried to integrate her with the "fam" she did pretty well, except when New York Cat terrorized her. She peed on our rug three times, so now she's spending the 5 weeks in a bathroom.
Then my son asked if we would take care of his two cats for a week while he and his girlfriend went on vacation. We've taken care of these two cats before and they've done fine. I said yes. Then my son told me one of the cats had developed a habit of pooping outside the box. (Groan) Then a few days before, he told us the other cat had a runny eye. So I've isolated the cats in a bedroom with a litter box and lots of newspaper. The cat managed two accidents outside the newspaper. I took the other cat to the vet ($70) and now have to give her eye cream three times a day.
So I have a cat in a bathroom. Two cats in a bedroom. One cat on the kitchen table. Three others who think they rule the roost.
Here they are:
1. New York Cat who just wants to "play," meaning RUMBLE (cue West Side Story music here)
2. Devil Cat who is really a fraidy cat but he turns it around and acts like a bully
3. Mr. Perfect who gets along with everyone but regularly throws up hairballs
4. Girl Cat aka the cat on the kitchen table.
5. Only Cat who really hates being confined to the bathroom
6. California Cat who is usually mellow, but is now pooping outside the box. He is shown here in more festive times, wearing his Halloween costume
7. Sore Eye who would be ruling the roost because she's a feisty little thing, but she needs to be isolated from the others. (Notice she is on a table. What is it with these cats and tables?)So....I'm cleaning out 6 litter boxes in three locations and feeding cats in three locations.
I never thought I would say it, but I've reached my cat limit! Exceeded it, in fact!
Have you ever gotten yourself in a situation of too many pets? Or a situation in which you wish you'd said NO?
For more about my cat woes go HERE.
Labels: cats
posted by Diane Gaston @ 12:01 AM
11 Comments:
Diane,
I used to have a problem saying 'no', but I somehow overcame it. I don't recall what pushed me to the limit. I think it was one day when I looked at how much writing time I was spending doing volunteer work. I have reached my limit with two cats. They're pretty good most of the time, and I enjoy their chase games. One of them, Pixie, poops outside the box. It started when the other one wouldn't let her do her business inside the box. I bought several litter boxes thinking surely Turnip Ann would let Pixie claim one as her own for number two purposes. Apparently not. :)
Wow, Diane, that's quite a menagerie. Bless you for trying to help. This is one of those times when the cliche 'No good deed goes unpunished' rings true. Haven't had it happen with pets, but have with work. We sometimes forget that it's just as important to know what we don't want as what we do. At the same time, it helps us be grateful for what we do have. Now it's time to take the CS Lewis attitude, in less than FIVE weeks, it will all be over. :-)
Mo, good for you for putting your writing in a priority position (and for limiting your household to two cats)
Judy, that is such a good point, to know what you don't want to do! One thing I do know is that I don't want to lead anything, so if I'm asked to lead something, like a committee, a group, I can say no. But that's about it!!! I clearly have a problem with saying no when it comes to cats.
Hi Diane! In answer to your question, my daughter sure did. She has a pet rat and decided to buy a 2nd one to keep it company. Turned out rat #2 was already pregnant, and soon my daughter had 13 - yes, 13! - rats. But she lives up at school, so it really wasn't my problem, lol.
My weakness is homeless dogs. As a result of taking them in, I've had my house chewed up (a Collie who liked to chew on the siding), a dog who piddled every time she wagged her tail, and a dog who died before she turned a year old (heartbreaking). I finally toughened up and said no more.
Ha! Welcome to my world, Diane. Sounds like my house every single day. LOL For the record, tho, you should have just offered to visit your friend's apt. a couple times a day to care for her cat. That's what I do when asked to cat-sit cuz they hate being taken out of their comfort zone & *do not* play well with others when thrown together. Unlike, you know, dogs, who love everybody & will do anything. *snicker*
Diane,
You are a brave woman--seven cats!!!! I've never had too many pets. We are down to one cat. We've had two cats and one dog at the same time. My cat only pooped outside the box one time when I was out of town and my husband was in charge of cleaning the litter box (otherwise, he doesn't know it exists). He cleaned it, then accidentally put the lid on backwards so the door was facing the wall. Poor cat couldn't get inside.
Alison, I think one rat would have exceeded my rat limit! Although I was responsible for a rat once for a psychology project in college. Did not make it a pet.
Tori, luckily I can give three of these cats back. I would hate to get attached and then lose them! Don't blame you for saying no.
Heidi!!!!!! How nice to see you here. My friend lives a half hour away and she was afraid her cat would get too lonely if someone only came in briefly once a day. I do visit the cat in the bathroom several times a day.
Merrillee, sometimes cats are easier than husbands!
This is too funny, O Divine One, but so YOU! You are such a generous person and I know those visiting cats appreciate it, or they will ... at some point .... maybe. Who am I kidding? They're cats!
I am at too many pets every day! I have had to put my foot down these days because what I have hovers between manageable and utter chaos on a daily basis.
My weakness is dogs with mental problems. The local shelters have had my number for so long and any time they have an animal with issues so serious the only solution is to put them down that dog ends up at my house. So I run a psych ward for dogs.
Fortunately my cats are so snobby and self-assured dogs with issues don't bother them at all!
I have four cats and four litter boxes because each and every cat insists on having his (or her in the case of Rebecca) own litter box.
Diane, you are a kitty saint!
At the moment, with our two dogs and our daughter's two cats, we have more animals in the house than ever before. So far everyone is getting along :-).
O Doggie One, this is why I call you O Doggie One!!
Terry, I don't know about kitty saint. I tend to mutter some very unsaintly expletives when cleaning poop off the rug.
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