I’ve been asked for an update on Gracie, and I can’t help but oblige.
She is awesome. I love her so much and I’m so glad that I made the decision to open up my heart to another cat.
She continues to be a love bug, she kneads on me and in my hair, which can be annoying in the middle of the night, but it’s so sweet. She puts on a nightly Kitten Olympics and Acrobatics floor show and that is crazy adorable. She’s also not shy, and so far has come out and been social with the few people who have been over.
Betsy is still pretty rough with her, and she gets in trouble for it. It’s not intentional and she’s not being mean, she just LOVES the kitty so much she can’t keep her hands off her. Betsy has been scratched a couple of times in retaliation, but all in all, the cat has a great deal of tolerance for Betsy. If I were Gracie, I’d have gone all ninja on Betsy’s ass about a week ago. But she hasn’t.
One of my hang-ups about getting a cat was the litter box. Bowser is a notorious lover of Kitty Box Krunchies, and I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to find a solution to keep him out of the litter box. But I discovered the Clevercat litter box, which is basically a storage container with a lid on top that forces the cat to jump down into the litter box through a hole in the top. Gracie has had no issues with using it, and Bowser can’t get his head through the hole. Although I have no doubt that he has tried.
So far, knock on wood, Gracie doesn’t have a problem with scratching. That’s my main fear because our previous two cats were big scratchers and destroyed carpet. She does scratch on my kitchen rug and the door mat at the back door, and she does use the cardboard scratcher I bought her, but so far I haven’t seen her scratching on carpet. I’m keeping my eye out for that.
I really couldn’t be happier with her. We got lucky with her, no doubt about it.
I never used to be a cat person. My mom always said she was allergic to them (which, sorry Mom, I think now that you were just saying that because you don’t like them) so I never had one growing up. We were a dog family when we had pets. And I am a devoted dog lover. I can’t imagine ever living without a dog.
When I met the EX, he was more of a cat person. Actually he used to be pretty afraid of dogs, because of a very bad bite he had gotten as a child, but for my sake, he developed a tolerance for the dog I had already, and even indulged me when I wanted to get a second dog. But he did turn me into a cat liker. I won’t say cat lover, at least not at first. Together we had three cats in our time together. Two of them died, and one of them had to be surrendered soon after Betsy was born because he was very jealous and I didn’t trust him around her.
Our last cat, Kiri, had to be put down almost two years ago. Her kidneys were failing, and one of the ways we discovered a problem with her was that she used our formal dining room as a litter box. While it broke my heart to have her put down, because as bitchy as that cat was, she was ours and we loved her. But I swore I’d never have another cat over and over as I tried to rid my living room of the smell of cat pee.
Now, I’ve never smelled a decomposing body, but I’d venture to guess that that’s the only thing in the world that smells worse than cat pee.
Finally as we were listing our house for sale, we had to replace the dining room carpet because the cat pee had soaked the carpet, the pad and had gotten to the slab. It took away much of my sadness as I wrote a check for new carpet for a house we were selling. Also, remembering all the things she (and the other cat) had destroyed by scratching made me certain that I would remain a dog lover and one who admires cats from afar.
Lately, though, I’ve been feeling the urge for a kitty. A little purring lump next to me on the couch or in bed just sounds really appealing. My biggest concern was the litter box, as my dumb dog Bowser really enjoys snacking from the litter box, which is the most disgusting habit a dog can have. Trust me when I say that we tried every option we could think of in the old house to keep him out, but finally had to install a cat door into the garage, and put the litter boxes out there. But I did a bit of research and found an option that I think will work now.
Still, I was on the fence about whether to do it or not. Taking on another animal to feed and care for, who will require trips to the vet was a bit daunting. Then a homeless kitty that needs a home sort of fell into my lap, so I took it as a sign. And tomorrow Betsy and I are headed to Dallas to visit my parents for a couple days and then to pick up the kitty and head home.
Betsy wants to name him Strawberry. She refuses to believe the cat is male, so I’ll have to convince her that he needs a more manly name than Strawberry. Does it really matter what the cat’s name is anyway? It’s not like they come when they’re called.