Calling All Cat Lovers! (Not a Book Review,)
Aug 09 '03
The Bottom Line Please spread the word, and help if you can.
My bad.
Among the many stressful events which have caused me to neglect all of you this summer has been an attempt on my part to integrate a new cat into our threesome.
I know how to do this. I have done it with great success before.
But this time it has failed, spectacularly.
The new cat -- who has behaved quite well -- is on the local 'waiting lists', waiting for a home. She is not the problem. If she were gone, the problem would remain.
My evil cat, Callie, has surpassed herself in wickedness by going berserk and trying to kill poor, dumb Garibaldi. The new cat hadn't been anywhere near either of them for weeks. Yes, Callie had been greatly stressed-out. But she was -- as always -- getting the lion's share of the attention anyway, and we were both playing with and making much of her at the moment when she flew at the lowest-status cat, chased him downstairs, blocked his escape to a safe perch and proceeded to attack.
When I got there they were in a corner of the rec room. He was whacking her away from him.
I flung myself between them. Garibaldi was wet all over from voiding his bladder, shaking with terror, and bleeding.
Callie tried to bite Mr. wordwalker as he carried her out of the room.
We were lucky. Garibaldi's tail had been gashed and needed stitches, but it will probably heal cleanly. After watching him constantly for twenty-four hours following his homecoming we are pretty sure he is no longer trying to bite the bandage out of annoyance, curiosity or stress. We did try the Elizabethan collar, but it sent him into a panic attack, probably because he couldn't tell whether or not a mortal enemy was sneaking up on him outside his very limited field of vision. We were doubly lucky in that he didn't injure himself while running in panic!
But the effects of his traumatic experience will take longer to heal than will the gash in his big, plumy tail.
See the sweet, goofy face of the cat in my profile picture? He keeps looking around for the monster that attacked him. Every little noise frightens him. He spent most of the evening in my lap, something he has only done a handful of times before.
He does enjoy all of the attention. Mr. wordwalker's tender care of him this morning while I caught a few hours' sleep had him gazing up at the man with Eyes of Worship: "The sun shines out of Daddy!"
He loves his vile tutti-frutti-flavored medicine.
But he's a wreck, and so of course are we, and finding a new home for the new cat won't fix the problem, because Callie never gave up a bad behavior in her life. She has never stopped chewing wood, marble, and metal in order to get attention; she learned to enjoy bitter apple flavoring; Mister Squirt Bottle is her friend....
She is no worse with people now than she ever was -- and she's always been death on solid objects -- but she can't be anywhere near Garibaldi now that he has become her designated stress target/punching bag.
She was on a calming medication at the time of the attack; and yes, it was having the desired effect, although not to the desired degree.
So we are trying to find a home for her. Old, spayed female calico cat; pretty, affectionate, extremely demanding when awake but sleeps a lot now. On a special diet due to bladder stones (and no, there are no symptoms of a flare-up right now). Chews furniture and fixtures. Lap-cat! Loves to be combed. Fairly good with visiting children, but could become jealous of them, too, I suspect, if she is not the center of attention.
Hates and fears dogs.
Can not be trusted with a less dominant cat, and any cat is a less dominant cat.
We live in Northern Virginia. We will send her anywhere where she can have a home.
Yes, we have put out the widest possible APB locally. She doesn't stand a chance in the ten-days-till-euthanasia systems, and the no-kill ones require you to keep the animal for "three to six weeks", or so they say; and they haven't found a place for the new cat yet.
She needs to go, as soon as possible.
I still love her, but she needs to go.
I don't have to tell most of you how terrible I feel about all of this. Cat lovers in particular will understand. I misjudged Callie's initial, fairly mild reactions to the new cat -- who went into humble kitten postures during their first several meetings -- and I thought Callie could cope with a 'rival', of sorts, whose territory overlapped her own. I was wrong.
My bad. My very, very bad. And I don't want to have to tell the Partial Truth to a vet to get him to put her to sleep, in order to avoid surrendering her to a system in which she will end up dying anyway. And I will not abandon her. If she must die, I owe it to her to let her do so in my arms.
I know the chances of any of you knowing a cat-less cat lover who can cope with a cat like Callie are very slight. But I can't live with myself if I don't make every effort to find such a person.
And I know I can count on your understanding and sympathy, even after having neglected you for most of the summer ... because you are wonderful people, and this is a true community.
Thank you for reading this.
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
wordwalker
|
 - Top 1000 |
|
Reviews written: 216
Trusted by: 358 members
About Me:
....
|
|
|
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.