Cats Are The Devil

Maybe I should have named our kitten "Damien" or "Carrie."

When Maira gave me my kitten, I had no idea what I was in for at the time.  I've seen shows on Animal Planet about "cats from hell," but I figured those were special circumstances.  After owning a cat for exactly one month (at the time I started this post), I know for a fact that my kitten is a minion of Satan.  I'm just saying.

Now, don't get me wrong.  I think that Char is one of the most entertaining pets I've ever had.  As someone who only grew up as a dog owner, having a cat for the first time is different.  Especially since this is my first indoor pet as well.  

However, I am confirming some things that I already knew: cats are the devil.  No doubt.  I've never met an animal who gets its way regardless of how you feel.  Regardless of how many times I tell Char "no," she still tries me.  She does respond to my voice pretty well, but The Mrs... well, that's another story.

I got the kitten for The Mrs. and she gets terrorized at times.  Okay, maybe "terrorized" is the wrong word, but Char looks at her fingers as a chew toy.  Whenever The Mrs. does anything within Char's reach, her fingers get attacked.  It was cute during the first week, but now, it's irritating.

I took @MarjorieMcAtee's advice and bought "his and her" water guns for The Mrs. and I.  We run out of water constantly.  The water only serves as a temporary deterrent to Char.  She'll run off only to come back less than a minute later to continue doing whatever it was that got her sprayed.

I'm not sure if cats just have short term memories or just don't care, but she just doesn't learn as quickly as dogs that I've owned.  Still, she's such a cute and funny animal, that I wouldn't think of giving up on her.  I'll cut her some slack since I'm sure that since I'm new to owning a cat and The Mrs. hasn't owned once since childhood, that we may have missed some opportunities to train her.

So, each day, I'll do what I can to train her.  I also have to cat-proof some things.  Last week, she stepped on the "Off" switch on my surge protector and turned my TV and DVR off.  Had that occurred during a football game, then I would have lost it.  And it's only a matter of time before she's able to jump high enough to reach the top of my entertainment center where my plasma is located.  All bets are off at that point!

I have been met with a dilemma though: I was considering having Char de-clawed until someone explained to me how the process worked.  Now, I'm reluctant to do so given the procedure.

Am I overreacting on the de-clawing process or is there a better alternative to it?

OMG. I'm A Cat Owner...

"Meow, man.  Meow."

I'm was on Twitter on Friday morning and I came across a tweet: "HEY everyone!!! I've found 3 sweet kittens that need a good home! DM me if you're interested!!!:) they get along with dogs & other cats!"

Now, let me give you a little background about myself... I've always hated cats. I've hated them with a passion since I was a kid. I got my first dog when I was three and I've hated cats ever since. Dogs are loyal and protective. Cats are manipulative and selfish. At no time did I ever consider owning one, but then I married The Mrs... She wanted a cat. I didn't care. I told her that I'd do anything for her except get her a cat. I don't want one of those things walking around my house in the way. Scratching up furniture. Tipping over fragile things. Being a nuisance.

"HEY everyone!!! I've found 3 sweet kittens that need a good home! DM me if you're interested!!!:) they get along with dogs & other cats!" "

"Why is that tweet jumping out at me?" I think to myself.

The Mrs. hasn't been feeling the best as of late. Back problems. Something like this could brighten up her day. That's when the devil on my shoulder appeared. "Idiot," he started, "you know that you hate cats."

Then the angel appeared on the other shoulder, "Do you know how excited it would make her if you brought home a kitten?"

Devil: "Whatever. She wouldn't like him because she didn't pick him out herself."

Angel: "She'll be happy with whatever you bring home. She'll be stunned that you love her enough to go against your dislike of cats."

(Sigh) I tweeted to the owner, "Do you have photos of them?"

Three photos appeared on my timeline and one of them jumped out at me.

"Ooh! Ooh!  Pick me!  Pick me!"

I contacted the young lady with the cats. She's local. I started following her on Twitter about two or three months ago because she came off as a pleasant and positive person. She agreed to meet me at a restaurant within walking distance on my job. I get out of my car and walk around to hers when I'm met by her dog, Dulce. A cute, little dog (couldn't tell you what kind though) who is running around the parking lot and maximizing the length of his leash.

Out pops the young lady who's giving me my choice of kitten. Her name is Maira.  She looks early 20's, Hispanic, long hair and very attractive. She smiles through her braces and reaches in the backseat for two kittens. Although they all looked similar, I knew that I wanted the one from the photo. There was no need to even look at the third kitten that was still in the car. I thanked Maira and got in the car with the kitten. On my way home, the kitten tried to climb up on my shoulder while I was driving. I immediately started thinking of the recent blog post I did about unrestrained pets in cars.

However, I manage to hold him until I got home. The fact that he seemed so friendly was appealing.  He was growing on me already.  I get inside the house and I'm hiding the kitten behind my laptop bag. The Mrs. looks at me funny as I approach her. I pull out the kitten and she has this look on her face as if Ashton Kutcher is going to pop out and tell her that she's been "Punk'd."

I later texted Maira to tell her how big of a smile the kitten put on The Mrs.' face. I offered her to let me send her something to show my appreciation, but she said, "just knowing y'all will be happy is more than enough."

Such a sweet girl.

So, after the first 100+ hours, a trip to Petco and cat-proofing my electronics, I'll admit that it's not so bad... yet. The Mrs. named him "Char," which is short for "charcoal" and the name of one of our favorite restaurants.

Omg. I'm a cat owner.  What have I done?

Taking This "I Love My Pet" Thing Too Far

Welcome to Chateau le Bark. Two stories and A/C.

Let me start this post by saying, "I love animals." As long as they're not trying to eat me, I'm cool with them. I don't go where they are and I don't want them up in my area. I especially love domesticated animals. I'm not a huge fan of cats, but I like dogs. Having said that, some people just take their love of animals way too far...

Some ladies an acquaintance knows showed their love of animals recently, but at the expense of a co-worker. One of the ladies (we'll call her "Jane") of the group lost a child via miscarriage. Of course any time someone experiences that, it can be very devastating, especially to the mother. Well, of course the other ladies in the group offered Jane verbal sympathies to help her overcome her loss.

Weeks later, another one of the ladies in the group (we'll call her "Jill") experienced a loss. Her dog, of almost 17 years, had died. Not only did Jill receive the sympathy of her co-workers, they also chipped in to take her out to lunch and bought her a sympathy card.

A great gesture, but what about Jane? Why did she only get a pat on the back for the loss of her child yet Jill got lunch and a card? How do you think Jane felt knowing that all she got was essentially a hug, now these heifers are showing up at her desk asking her to chip in on someone's lunch over Fifi?

Dogs don't even have to walk any more.

Another example: there is a charity located in Jackson that has a bin for clothing that can be donated to an abused women's shelter. The bin normally contains used clothing for women and children who may live in the shelter while they try to restart their lives abuse-free. Directly next to this bin, is another bin owned by the Animal Rescue League. This bin accepts donations to animal shelters to provide the animals with blankets, toys, food, etc.

A friend of my uncle's works for the women's shelter. He says that whenever he goes down to collect the items from the women's bin, he notices how much fewer the items are in comparison to the animals' bin. He says the animals' bin is always full and even has items stacked around the bin because they couldn't fit inside. Most of the items still have price tags on them because they're brand new.

Bottom line is: it bothers me a bit to know that there are some people in the world who care about animals more than humans. I asked a Facebook question once about "if you were trapped on an island with a stranger and your dog and you could only save one, which would it be?"

I was astounded by the number of people who said they would save their dog over the stranger. Despite the fact that it's a human life, it carried no value to them. The excuses were, "well, dogs are like family members" or "dogs are so loyal."

Look, I understand the importance of a pet. I had a dog for 12 years that died when I was 15 and it really weighed heavily on me. I'm not numb to the fact that pets are a significant part of our lives. But, I think that if a person is willing to put a pet's well-being over a human's (excluding abusers of children who have no value to society in my opinion), then I can't bring myself to understand that line of thinking.

What's your take on this? If you're an animal lover and you think I'm off base, then I would welcome your argument to convince me to think otherwise.