I have not mentioned it much for fear of raising concerns that I am both a crazy cat lady and/or a bad pet owner, but I moved down to the U.S. without my kitties, Wilbur and Coco. Instead, my idea was that they would stay with my friend who is renting my house in Canada until I settled in down here.
But a bad thing happened. My friend has a dog. And while the dog has no issue with kitties, she is rambunctious and overly friendly, and would bound up to her new furry housemates wanting to say hello and perhaps even engage in some harmless play. It became apparent that neither Wilbur nor Coco could tell the difference between a bounding, tail-wagging dog and one that wanted to rip their heads off and eat them for lunch. Distressed and miserable, they literally moved out and into my next-door-neighbour’s house, seemingly heartbroken that their family had abandoned them and left them with a stinking Scottish terrier.
To say this caused me many weepy and sleepless nights is an understatement. I am disturbingly, maternally attached to the cats — they were like little rays of sunshine in my life, both real love junkies who adore their people.
My neighbours, bless them, were happy to provide a safe and dog-free haven for a few weeks until I could arrange to bring the cats down. And finally … finally!!! … the children’s father drove them down to the U.S. this weekend, Canadian Thanksgiving.
Let me assure people who feel cats are cold, unfeeling and dumb of one thing: they are far smarter and far more attached to the people in their lives than even I realized. As soon as their carrier bags were zipped open, those two cats came leaping out and knew exactly who we were and that they were finally reunited with us. There was purring, trilling, rolling around on their backs for tummy rubs, leg-rubbing, and more purring before they even got down to the serious business of checking out their new house. They knew who we were, they remembered, they wondered where the hell we’d gone and it was very clear that they were elated to be back with their family despite an 11-hour drive.
It’s only been two days now and they’re wandering the house like they own it, sleeping on our legs every night, and purring with delight every time we glance at them. I am so happy to have them back!
October 11, 2008 at 6:38 pm
Reunited and it feel so good! Cats are evil, though. My cats will bite the hell out of your ankles if you don’t pet them enough, and they travel in pack (they are a mom and 2 daughters)around the neighborhood with a do-not-mess attitude. This morning they treed another cat who gave birth last week. Nice.
October 11, 2008 at 7:11 pm
WAHOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
I was wondering when you were gonna get your kitties back. In my mind, a house is not a home without at least one furry creature there to greet you. So glad you’re together again.
@MBB: Not all cats are evil. Only the best ones.
October 11, 2008 at 7:22 pm
Yay – you have your cats! I bet they are glad to be back with you :-)
My kitty is a bitch. She likes being an only cat and beats up all other cats.
October 11, 2008 at 7:54 pm
Aw, poor kitties. I’m glad you were finally reunited with them.
The bottom cat picture looks a lot like my Schrodinger. :)
October 11, 2008 at 7:59 pm
I am so weepy and missing my babies right now that I can barely stand it.
October 11, 2008 at 8:35 pm
Oh Angie! It’s brutal. I feel so bad for you. When will you be reunited?
October 11, 2008 at 9:22 pm
Two weeks, Trixie.
October 11, 2008 at 9:39 pm
Yay for kitties! And I’m in Canada this weekend (it is stheriously beautiful up here), to be reunited w/ my furbabies tomorrow night. We can all be thankful.
October 11, 2008 at 9:48 pm
You can make it, Angie. I just did six weeks!!
October 11, 2008 at 9:49 pm
PhDork: Where are you in Canada?
October 11, 2008 at 9:53 pm
But Trixie, they are my only babies…you at least have a child to smother with love and kisses (whether he likes it or not).
October 11, 2008 at 10:35 pm
He will no longer let me touch him. But yes, I know what you mean. Believe me, I do. Poor you. Are they happy where they are, at least?
October 12, 2008 at 12:09 am
The pups are at my Momma’s. She’s taking good care of them, and they get to play outside a lot, but they aren’t getting the 7 or 8 hours of attention every night like they usually get. Mom says the three Yorkies – D.J., Maggie and Uno – are doing just fine, but Penny, the Chihuahua, is really worried and keeps pacing.
October 12, 2008 at 12:10 am
And you are totally going to meet them all soon!
October 12, 2008 at 12:49 am
Congrats on having your furbabies back! You’re right – people who don’t “get” cats have no idea how loving they are. The best part of any vacation for me is coming home to my 4 goofballs.
October 12, 2008 at 2:08 am
aww trixie! i am so glad you have your kittens back! i have a Coco too! She is a chocolate siamese with the prettiest blue eyes ever. But she will only acknowlegde you if you call her Miss Coco Chanel. seriously.
she’s a big purr monster. and whore. she loves men.
October 12, 2008 at 3:01 am
Awww. And you actually have SWEET cats. Every cat I ever had would be ecstatic when we returned from a holiday, for about 10 minutes, and then they’d get all insulted that we left at all and withhold their affections for a while.
When my sister’s away for a night or more I always swing by her house to feed and pet the cats, and now they appear to love me more, at times. They know who really cares, haha!
Our old cat Tijger would always sense when we were going on holiday, and as a result he’d try to go outside and hide so that we couldn’t leave. Really. That was his intent. Every year while we were packing our holiday things we had to make sure no windows and doors were open, and that there was no access to the attic in particular. And then the fun chasing of the kitty would begin…
He was hit by a car some 5 years ago. At least the neighbour who hit him had the balls to come over and tell us our cat was dead in the road.
October 12, 2008 at 11:50 am
Ay, kittylove. Nothing like it. I’m so glad you’ve all been reunited.
October 12, 2008 at 12:00 pm
I once went on a business trip for 6 solid weeks and left my cat with my mother. When I got home, Jasper, shredded my blouse. He just kept gripping his little paws in it, purring and blinking hard, like he was crying with joy. It broke my heart. He wouldn’t let me out of his sight for weeks after and HOWLED when I left the house.
I’ve had a tough time leaving my pets for any length of time since.
Fortunately, Trix, your babies had each other to get through the short-term separation. That’s a good thing. A veeeery good thing.
October 12, 2008 at 12:03 pm
Oh, Paisley and Trixie, bless it. Six weeks? I am about to lose my mind after three!
October 12, 2008 at 12:17 pm
That is such a sweet story. Glad you have your babies back. My two persians are heavenly. There is nothing like rubbing Tito’s belly, like, ALL THE TIME.
October 12, 2008 at 12:23 pm
Awww, Trixie, my kitty does the “YOU’RE BACK!” thing too when I go on trips. Isuaully wake up in the night in my return to find her – and there’s no other word for it – snorfling at the covers in bed with me, happily licking my arms. She is extremely social and even kind of objects to my going to work each day.
At least your kitties had each other for support. Liberty is alone. I think it’s time to get her a buddy. She’s five now, but she plays like a kitten – she’ll chase string for hours. It’s exhausting.
October 12, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Aw, so good for you to have them back! Is that one of them at top? That cat looks so fabulously judgmental I want to steal it away!
October 12, 2008 at 1:08 pm
@pilgrimsoul: Get one of those laser pointer lights. Much less of a hassle to move around and my sister’s cats go crazy for hours on end. All she has to do is sit on the couch and move her hand around slightly. The cats do the rest of the work.
I want a kitty too! Ever since I’ve lived on my own I’ve been a vicarious cat-lady. None of my landlords so far have allowed pets.
October 12, 2008 at 4:01 pm
Okay, the top kitty is Coco, and the bottom one is Wilbur. Am I right??? I hope so, because that’s what LOOKS right to me.
My moving about the last few years has ensured that I can’t take in any mammals (it would be irresponsible as I might not be able to take them with me and have to travel a bit for work), and it KILLS ME. I grew up with both kitties and a dog, and probably the best reason I can think of to settle somwhere is that I’ll be able to have pets again.
I think I’m going to get another fish. I like coming home to something, even if I can’t cuddle it / be bitten. It does make a difference.
October 12, 2008 at 5:20 pm
@Tailfeather: If you get a beta, you can get bitten. Still can’t cuddle, though.
October 12, 2008 at 5:35 pm
@cate: My last fish, Winston, was a crown-tailed Beta! I loved him so, and he always got excited when I cam home from work. Call it projection, call it hunger, call it a reaction to a change in light or whatever, whenever I came home and would call out “Wiiinstooon” (in our special stupid voice) he would wiggle all around his bowl, and if I put my face right up against it, he would stare at me and stop moving (possibly, he “thought” I was a predator). It doesn’t really matter, though, because he was well-cared for and loved, and it made me happy to see him.
I left him with my best girlfriend when I moved to the UK, and she gave him much TLC for eight months, until he committed suicide by jumping out of the bowl one night (as detailed instructions as I gave her, I must have neglected to say he should have a good three inched of air at the top of the bowl to avoid this). She is an excellent pet-owner, so we both had a little cry. RIP, Winston. MOMMY LOVES YOU.
October 12, 2008 at 10:52 pm
Awww, Trixie I’m so happy for you and the fur babies!! It’s hell to be seperated from our furry children, as noted by BAngB distress.
TF, I luv Betas! I’m on my 3rd and always name them Phydo. I’ve found that keeping a small peace lily floating in the water takes the suicide option out and my Phydo of the moment really enjoys swimming amongst the roots.
October 13, 2008 at 7:25 am
Tailfeather: your Winston reminds me of my late black goldfish, Tupac. Tupac always liked to play dead and float belly up. When I would get my net and dump him out of his bowl, he would swim and come back to life.
When I went home for X-mas, I left him with a friend who might have thought that he was dead and accidentally flushed him down the toilet.
October 13, 2008 at 8:34 am
Trixie, I was in the thriving metropolis of Sackville, NB, at Mt. Alison U. It was lovely, and too quick–I didn’t even get to see the tide come in/go out in the Bay. Next time.
And Pilgim, I second the laser-pointer thing for kitties.
October 13, 2008 at 9:37 am
Aw, Trixie, I’m so happy for you! Even though my boy Bojangles is kind of evil (and a biter), he’s so loving to me. He does the run to the door and roll around on his back with joy thing every day when I come home from work. He’s such a sweetie. I’ll have to be away from him for a week next week and the thought of it just tears me up!
October 13, 2008 at 10:28 am
I’m much happier to hear that you are shedding tears over kitties rather than over men! Glad you are all happily re-united
October 13, 2008 at 11:32 am
@ Devil: Phydo is the most inventive pet name I’ve heard in a long time. It would work great for a cat, too. Awesome!
October 13, 2008 at 1:36 pm
My cat has zero interest in a laser pointer. None. She looks at the squiggly dot, then looks at me with exasperation, as if to say “bitch, I am NOT chasing after that lame figment. I only get off my ass for treats.”
She’s on to the technology! Nooo!
October 13, 2008 at 3:17 pm
Ohh yay for kitty-cat reunions! When I moved here, my mom, bless her, drove the Uhaul and took the cats, while I got down here with a few basics (she was going to meet me at my new apartment that night, but I ended up sleeping on my laptop case in an empty apartment without so much as a toothbrush). Anyway, the next morning when she arrives, she takes my girl up first, then the boy. And I knew they were glad to see me; my mom says they calmed down almost as soon as they saw me (after being pissy as hell the night before because they were in the midst of a six-hour trip).
Then they look around a bit, and seem to kind of go “Yeah, this is acceptable.” Bless their feline hearts. My boy Casey is a sweetie, but my girl Lola is kind of a mama’s girl, in that she’ll be sweet to me way more than anyone else. She’ll climb on my legs and go to sleep sometimes, I think she will only be sweet when I’m barely coherent enough to notice.
October 14, 2008 at 1:32 pm
@Amoureuse: Awwwww! I’d like to think that Tupac and Winston are partying it up in that great fishbowl in the sky, having blank-staring contests and swimming through plastic fronds (not attacking each other – Winston posed macho, but I’m pretty sure he was a pussycat at heart).