Although this blog is mainly about my misadventures of being single and passing the time while job hunting, today's post is about 
my love/hate relationship with my cat...and she seemingly feels the same.
From the very beginning, Miss Cleo was a handful. She was a stray and at her first vet appointment, they told me A) he was a she B) she was pregnant C) she had tapeworms and fleas. Ew. She went in for a kitty abortion (yes, I'm terrible but I didn't want to witness the miracle of cat birth and then have 5 kittens to take care of), but it turned out she wasn't pregnant. She had a terrible infection and the procedure saved her little kitty life.
So the way I see it, she should be eternally grateful, and for the most part, she's a great cat. She's talkative and oddly cute. We snuggle when she lets me. She plays games - like flicking up a single piece of food, batting it around and then devouring it like she finally captured her prey. She runs around with a toy mouse in her mouth. An elastic hair band provides hours of entertainment. She's well taken care of, healthy and safe.
But occasionally, this happy home life gets rocky. She LOVED hanging out in the dirty attic with fallen insulation everywhere. At first, I put a few heavy books in front of the door thinking she couldn't move them. But then I'd come home, the door would be wide open and Miss Cleo was nowhere to be found. The spray bottle was ineffective because I couldn't quite catch her in the act. My only option was to install a lock to keep her out. I'm sure it was a sad day when she realized she could no longer hangout in the cobwebs and insulation.
Miss Cleo is shedding terribly but hates to be brushed, so I decided she was no longer allowed to sit and shed on the couch. I reinforced this new rule by squirting her with a water bottle. She let me know how uncool this was by pooping in the dining room.
I took a trip to Arizona and returned to find one shoe completely drenched in pee.
Most of you are probably thinking, "Oh cats! That's just what they do," so I'm keeping that in mind, but her random acting out has to stop. I've started a system of positive reinforcement where she receives cat treats after I do something "mean" like try to brush her or give her medicine. And since I'm home more, I've been spending a lot of quality time snuggling with her. I'm hoping we struggle less with the love/hate and just love. That is, until the next time I find one of her little surprises.
my love/hate relationship with my cat...and she seemingly feels the same. From the very beginning, Miss Cleo was a handful. She was a stray and at her first vet appointment, they told me A) he was a she B) she was pregnant C) she had tapeworms and fleas. Ew. She went in for a kitty abortion (yes, I'm terrible but I didn't want to witness the miracle of cat birth and then have 5 kittens to take care of), but it turned out she wasn't pregnant. She had a terrible infection and the procedure saved her little kitty life.
So the way I see it, she should be eternally grateful, and for the most part, she's a great cat. She's talkative and oddly cute. We snuggle when she lets me. She plays games - like flicking up a single piece of food, batting it around and then devouring it like she finally captured her prey. She runs around with a toy mouse in her mouth. An elastic hair band provides hours of entertainment. She's well taken care of, healthy and safe.
But occasionally, this happy home life gets rocky. She LOVED hanging out in the dirty attic with fallen insulation everywhere. At first, I put a few heavy books in front of the door thinking she couldn't move them. But then I'd come home, the door would be wide open and Miss Cleo was nowhere to be found. The spray bottle was ineffective because I couldn't quite catch her in the act. My only option was to install a lock to keep her out. I'm sure it was a sad day when she realized she could no longer hangout in the cobwebs and insulation.
Miss Cleo is shedding terribly but hates to be brushed, so I decided she was no longer allowed to sit and shed on the couch. I reinforced this new rule by squirting her with a water bottle. She let me know how uncool this was by pooping in the dining room.
I took a trip to Arizona and returned to find one shoe completely drenched in pee.
Most of you are probably thinking, "Oh cats! That's just what they do," so I'm keeping that in mind, but her random acting out has to stop. I've started a system of positive reinforcement where she receives cat treats after I do something "mean" like try to brush her or give her medicine. And since I'm home more, I've been spending a lot of quality time snuggling with her. I'm hoping we struggle less with the love/hate and just love. That is, until the next time I find one of her little surprises.
My cat refuses to snuggle. I'm hoping that he'll learn in time I'm not just trying to smother him while he sleeps.
ReplyDeleteRudy is more curious and brave than any cat I've had -- but also quite the dick. He doesn't sleep for a full night, he talks at every waking moment, chews EVERYTHING (including the bottle of Bitter Yuck!) and he goes unnecessarily nuts at least once a day for 30-60 seconds like he's on speed. Thankfully, he has used the box with ZERO error since the day we brought him home and hasn't decided to mark his territory.
I had to laugh about your "he's-a-she" comment because at the APL on his adoption day, as we were signing all the paperwork... all the documents labeled "Ruby" as a FEMALE. (I don't have luck with girl cats and cannot stand their heat period). Regardless, the volunteer brought us back to his cage and lifted up the tail in front of everyone -- like, WTF was *I* supposed to look at?! He's neutered, so as far as I know he doesn't have any balls. Or whatever. Confirmation: MALE cat.
Bonus: he also came with an upper respiratory infection and worms as well.
I decided to exclude the 'horribly infected uterus' comment the vet made and the 'it's looked like a sausage full of pus' and instead, just nicely put in the blog that she had an infection.
ReplyDeleteCats are so bizarre. I've always had male cats and while they pulled some weird stuff, I honestly think Miss Cleo pulls stuff on me just to be a bitch. But I love my little bitchy cat.