Um, yeah. We had a cat for about 2 weeks.
Her name is Nikki and she is my kitty. Nikki was a stray.
She was found on the side of the road by my mom's co-worker in the Winter of 1998. Temperatures had been sub-zero for almost a week and my mom's friend saw only two eyes flash in the darkness (because in Cleveland, it gets dark around 3:30-4pm!). She stopped to see what it was and found a cold, hungry little kitty.
My mom's friend took the cat in to the vet and got her fixed up. This friend brought the cat into work the next day, and my mom felt like we were old enough to handle a cat, so (after begging for a dog for years) guess what my sister and I got for Christmas that year? :) A cat.
Somehow, Megan and I decided to name her Nikki. My first memory of her was of her being really sick - she had worms and parasites, and was pretty emaciated and small when we got her. On her second night with us, she puked out a huuuuuge worm. It might be, to this day, the grossest thing I have ever seen. So gross, (and so intact) that the vet permanently kept the worm in a jar as a sample specimen for future reference.
We had a pet bunny at the time, Tippy. Tippy was a big boy! He was an 8-10 pound (down-eared) mini-lop bunny that roamed the house and was litter-trained. The cat, on the other hand, was tiny, 6 pounds, and afraid of everything that moved. Tippy would sometimes chase Nikki, but the two eventually got along by ignoring each other most of the time.
Fast-forward to college, to our Indianapolis house, and now to today. I have only been able to see Nikki during Christmas when I come back to Cleveland for the holidays. My sister had since adopted two other gigantic 16- and 18- pound polydactyl cats, Oatmeal Raisin and Snickerdoodle, who seemed to enjoy fighting with and picking on her. Hissing, growling, and taking clawed swats at each other was a normal occurrence. She became an partial- outdoor cat to give her time away from what I called the two "dumbcats." I always felt bad that there was nothing I could do to save her from living a life of anxiety and being bullied. :(
Since Megan moved into my family's Westlake house in December, Nikki was about to live with her 4 dogs, including a boxer and a pitbull. Good for her? You do the math. My mom also reported showing some signs of allergies to the cat too, but eventually decided it was safer and happier for her to live in Newark with her. Ben's allergic to cats, but it seemed like he'd gotten significantly better over the past few years.
Christmas 2012 was celebrated here in Bloomington, so my mom brought Nikki down here for the first time since she would be away too long to leave her on her own at home. She loved being in the house and having so much room to explore! When it was time for my mom to go, we decided to keep Nikki - after all, Ben's allergies hadn't really flared up at all. It was so much fun - after all these years of missing my kitty, she finally got to be with me! She resumed her favorite hobby of sitting on my wrists while I typed on my laptop. (Isn't that a typical cat favorite-past time?)
Here's what happened the first time Todd discovered another animal in the house, which is basically how all of their run-ins went from that point on. (If you're wondering why we have so many carpet remnants, it's Todd's bunny-bridge... he is afraid to walk on wood floors and gets around only on carpeted areas. Silly boy!)
Nikki is kind of a food monger, so we had to keep all of our food put away at all times. That was a lot harder than you'd think! It was cool having a pet that came when you called, and one that would listen when you told her no (most of the time). She loooooved laying on our wood floor and carpet in the sunshine, and when we played board games she'd lay down right in the middle of the action. Of course, she always wanted to rub up on Ben. ;) As a cat who's gotten used to being outdoors, our neighborhood in Bloomington is not ideal for her - I let her outside once, but worried the whole time that she'd get too close to the street. Cars and construction traffic around here usually fly through here 40+ mph.
Todd didn't quite roll out the welcome mat for her, but he's never really been too accommodating with animals in "his" territory. She would climb up and sit in our laps during TV time, but Todd wouldn't allow it; he would hop up onto the sofa and aggressively chase her away as soon as he saw her approach. Not cool, bunny! For two animals identical in size (6 pounds), I'm still surprised that Todd the bunny was the dominant one. He was on high-alert nearly 100% of the time with Nikki around (even if she's minding her own business).
A week later, though, Ben started noticing a worsening skin reaction and guessed it was because of the cat. That was the final straw and Nikki had to go. My mom came to pick her up that weekend, after 12 glorious days here in Bloomington.
And that is the story of the time we had a cat. Miss you, Neeks!
Update- Nikki's living happily with my mom in Newark now. She's still trying to figure out why the houses are so close together and where to hunt for mice when she's allowed outside. Meanwhile, Ben's skin irritation has disappeared and I'm pretty sure I'd be a crazy cat lady if I could...
Her name is Nikki and she is my kitty. Nikki was a stray.
She was found on the side of the road by my mom's co-worker in the Winter of 1998. Temperatures had been sub-zero for almost a week and my mom's friend saw only two eyes flash in the darkness (because in Cleveland, it gets dark around 3:30-4pm!). She stopped to see what it was and found a cold, hungry little kitty.
My mom's friend took the cat in to the vet and got her fixed up. This friend brought the cat into work the next day, and my mom felt like we were old enough to handle a cat, so (after begging for a dog for years) guess what my sister and I got for Christmas that year? :) A cat.
Somehow, Megan and I decided to name her Nikki. My first memory of her was of her being really sick - she had worms and parasites, and was pretty emaciated and small when we got her. On her second night with us, she puked out a huuuuuge worm. It might be, to this day, the grossest thing I have ever seen. So gross, (and so intact) that the vet permanently kept the worm in a jar as a sample specimen for future reference.
We had a pet bunny at the time, Tippy. Tippy was a big boy! He was an 8-10 pound (down-eared) mini-lop bunny that roamed the house and was litter-trained. The cat, on the other hand, was tiny, 6 pounds, and afraid of everything that moved. Tippy would sometimes chase Nikki, but the two eventually got along by ignoring each other most of the time.
Fast-forward to college, to our Indianapolis house, and now to today. I have only been able to see Nikki during Christmas when I come back to Cleveland for the holidays. My sister had since adopted two other gigantic 16- and 18- pound polydactyl cats, Oatmeal Raisin and Snickerdoodle, who seemed to enjoy fighting with and picking on her. Hissing, growling, and taking clawed swats at each other was a normal occurrence. She became an partial- outdoor cat to give her time away from what I called the two "dumbcats." I always felt bad that there was nothing I could do to save her from living a life of anxiety and being bullied. :(
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| Don't let the extra toes and big eyes fool you. |
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| Nikki approaching computing position |
Christmas 2012 was celebrated here in Bloomington, so my mom brought Nikki down here for the first time since she would be away too long to leave her on her own at home. She loved being in the house and having so much room to explore! When it was time for my mom to go, we decided to keep Nikki - after all, Ben's allergies hadn't really flared up at all. It was so much fun - after all these years of missing my kitty, she finally got to be with me! She resumed her favorite hobby of sitting on my wrists while I typed on my laptop. (Isn't that a typical cat favorite-past time?)
Nikki is kind of a food monger, so we had to keep all of our food put away at all times. That was a lot harder than you'd think! It was cool having a pet that came when you called, and one that would listen when you told her no (most of the time). She loooooved laying on our wood floor and carpet in the sunshine, and when we played board games she'd lay down right in the middle of the action. Of course, she always wanted to rub up on Ben. ;) As a cat who's gotten used to being outdoors, our neighborhood in Bloomington is not ideal for her - I let her outside once, but worried the whole time that she'd get too close to the street. Cars and construction traffic around here usually fly through here 40+ mph.
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| Shorty! |
A week later, though, Ben started noticing a worsening skin reaction and guessed it was because of the cat. That was the final straw and Nikki had to go. My mom came to pick her up that weekend, after 12 glorious days here in Bloomington.
And that is the story of the time we had a cat. Miss you, Neeks!
Update- Nikki's living happily with my mom in Newark now. She's still trying to figure out why the houses are so close together and where to hunt for mice when she's allowed outside. Meanwhile, Ben's skin irritation has disappeared and I'm pretty sure I'd be a crazy cat lady if I could...
Awwww I wish you could have a cat! Tell Ben to take some Claritin. (just kidding...I know it is probably worse than what Claritin can fix!) We are planning on adopting another cat this summer so that DC can have a brother. If you ever need a "cat fix" let me know and you are welcome to come hang out with my crazy kitty!
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