Looking! That's all. Just looking.
My sweet good cat disappeared last October. I assume he was hit by a car. I wanted to give him six months to come back before I got a kitten. Six months seems like a long time, but years ago, his brother disappeared on the Fourth of July and came back on November 11th. Walked right in the window, never said a word about where he’d been, stayed until January, then left for good. My ex-boyfriend said my cat left me for wet food and air conditioner, and did I want to make the same mistake with him? (But I still didn’t cook meat for him in my house. And gave away the air conditioner.)
I’ve been hesitant to get a kitten. I believe that when you are ready for a cat, the universe will send you one. I also believe that if you are older than thirty and have more than two cats, you’ll never get married. I have a girl cat already; if I get a kitten and my sweet good cat came back, that would be the end of my hopes. It is a dangerous risk. I haven’t completely decided, but at lunch Amy and I are walking over to the pound. Just to look.
Update: That was horrible. I am not going back until the day when I can walk out with a cat or kitten. Like maybe next Wednesday, after work.
I’ve been hesitant to get a kitten. I believe that when you are ready for a cat, the universe will send you one. I also believe that if you are older than thirty and have more than two cats, you’ll never get married. I have a girl cat already; if I get a kitten and my sweet good cat came back, that would be the end of my hopes. It is a dangerous risk. I haven’t completely decided, but at lunch Amy and I are walking over to the pound. Just to look.
Update: That was horrible. I am not going back until the day when I can walk out with a cat or kitten. Like maybe next Wednesday, after work.
posted by Megan at 11:24 AM
9 Comments:
maybe you could get a dog?
That's not a bad idea. I know two separate guys who's dream girl already has a dog that he can take for walks, and throw balls to, and wrestle with, and then maybe he'll spend some time with the girl when he's done.
But almost every day I get home at 5:45, eat first dinner while I'm changing clothes and then run out the door to some field or other. It would be mean of me to have a dog.
why would you get rid of your AC? It gets hot in Sacramento in the summer.
I just don't like thermal regulation. The air conditioner was a big ugly wall unit that I had never turned on in three years. I figured that was long enough to know that I wasn't going to use it. I didn't use the heater in winter until I overheard dinner guests talking about dressing warmly to come to my house.
If I close my house in the morning, it stays cool until 4:00, then is unpleasant until the Delta breeze kicks in at 7:30. Reason enough for me to go to pick-up or the river or a movie in the late afternoon.
I live in Minnesota where "thermal regulation" is a must for much of the year. The apartments and houses are all sealed up pretty tight. But I have a good friend from college who lives in Sacramento. Her family doesn't believe in thermal regulation either. Its a totally different feeling having those open houses where air just flows through. Its really nice.
BUT it was Christmas when I visited and there were a couple days where it was cold. Cold enough that despite all the clothes I was wearing, every few hours I had to go to the bathroom and do push ups to keep warm.
I'm not a big fan of AC/Heat but that's because I'm cheap. In the car it gives me a headache.
I've noticed that cats aren't as likely to leave or get run over by a car if you don't let them roam around outside. They don't get sick nearly as often or bring in as many fleas, either.
sean,
They also don't ever get to be proper cats. A proper cat ought to hunt and explore as well as cuddle, and I think the cats know it.
The outdoor cats I've known have been consistently healthier and happier, all told - they get cuts and scratches and sometimes worms, but these are all temporary and relatively easily fixed. Indoor cats wind up with neuroses, diabetes, and obesity instead. (This is all anecdotal, of course, and we all know what the plural of anecdote isn't...)
Besides which, if your cat wanders off (but you know it's alive, as in Megan's case), that's a good thing. The alternative would have been for you to keep it with you against its will - feline kidnapping.
Hm... It occurs to me that maybe respect for an individual will is what makes some cat people cat people. I, for instance, would rather have another being with plans of its own around than, say, a dog, whose existence would tend to revolve entirely around mine. This clearly doesn't apply to all cat owners, however; many people choose to keep their cats indoors, and seem to see them as smaller, better-behaved, quieter lapdogs which are more likely to be acceptable to the landlord...
I don't consider indoor cats to be feline kidnapping. My Frankie (kitty heaven bless her) hated outside. She would stand at the door and just look at me with that "No, seriously, you want me to go out there? Why?" look, and when we did make her go out, she curled up at the door and mewed and sounded so pathetic that we had to let her back in. It would have been cruel not to.
As for the worms and other stuff that outdoor cats get, you think that it's all easily fixed... okay, sure it is, but at what cost? Your cat's health and you wallet. Maybe you can afford the expensive vet bills and medications and everything else, and don't mind watching your cat suffer and in pain, but I can't.
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