Could it be that Bear wants to be friends with Charlotte? Is that even possible?
Could my baby girl and my cat get along?!
Eh, probably not. … At least not yet.
New Best Friends
2
Tag Archives: cat
Behavioral Issues
Can we just talk about Bear for a minute?
I realize that I sound like a crazy cat lady every time I write about her, but I can’t help it. It’s in my blood. My mom collected strays. My mom’s mom collects barnyard strays… I adopted one of said barnyard strays. It’s a cycle filled with felines.
Bear – my little bundle of pain – has developed emotional issues. Ok, that’s a lie. She has always been my emo, inbred kitten. If I had new roommates, she would “mark her territory,” aka pee on things.
There were a few occasions when she actually had a kitty UTI. She is going through this disaster right now. We think.
Cats should not get UTIs.
Why?
Because she spends 5 hours cleaning herself, 18 hours sleeping and 1 hour awkwardly staring at me. That should not result in somehow developing a UTI.
Regarldess, we’ve spent more than $500 during the last 3 months on her vet bills for this recurring issue. Finally, on Saturday, the vet told us to buy special overpriced urinary health, wet cat food.
Let me be clear – Bear hasn’t eaten wet cat food since she was a kitten. Five years ago.
I got her home from the vet and she was still slightly sedated, just enough so that when she walked forward her back legs would trail off to one side. And when she sat, she just stared at the floor like it’s spinning.
I put out the overpriced wet cat food and she went to town. That nasty cat food made the whole house smell like a warm non-descrip meat substance not unlike spam.
My bet was on HOS, but Bear was the one who lost her dinner.
All over the hallway.
*sigh*
HOS reminded me that she was my cat, so he would NOT be cleaning that up. Probably for the best. I didn’t need to ultimately clean up his vomit along with hers.
After cleaning up the spam-esque disaster spew, I spoke with the animal clinic that actually does have dry food. Nice. Thanks.
In the end, Bear has her dry urinary health food. I have to force feed her medicine that smells like liver. And Shane didn’t have to clean up the mess.
All for my beloved cat that may or may not be experiencing behavioral issues.
She peed on a power strip to the computer because I had been working remotely that day… At this point, behavior is the least of her problems.
Coughing Cat
I am the proud mama to a special cat, Bear. I just found out the poor thing has a second UTI in a month and now has bronchitis. She’s also the proud owner of a “WILL BITE” sticker on her chart at the vet. That’s my girl.
I brought her home in a large cardboard box from my grandparents’ farm in May 2007. No one in my family thought she’d survive living with me. Thanks, family. I would carry her in my hoodie pocket and she would attack my eyelashes while I slept. She also liked to climb up the pant legs of me and my roommate while we got ready, meowing constantly, and she would occasionally pee on things. Yeah, we were besties from the get-go.
When I found out I was pregnant with Charlotte I was really nervous about Bear. I’ve heard plenty of horror stories about animals climbing into bassinets and cribs and accidentally suffocating babies because they wanted to cuddle. Bear isn’t exactly big on cuddling, especially if you want her to, but she likes warm bodies to lay on. I was also worried about how much a baby would flip her little world upside down. The last thing I wanted was for Bear to be unhappy about the pregnancy and baby, ultimately leading to me finding a new home.
I waited for months for Bear to react to my growing belly or changes in my hormones. She continued being her spiteful, pissy and sometimes loving self. Bear acted as if nothing had changed up until the moment we brought Charlotte home. And she was ticked.
Our house was full of people coming and going, which was stressful enough for Bear, but then there was this small thing sitting in my lap, taking up all my attention and keeping me from paying attention to the very important needs of my cat. Bear would sulk on her favorite couch cushion and hiss at anything related to the baby – the nursery room door or the empty carseat.
After everyone guests stopped visiting, Shane returned to work and my dad and his wife headed back to Nebraska, Bear and I had a very important chat.
She had just passed Charlotte in the swing and Bear hissed at her. This mama was not going to put up with months or years of a jealous cat. I laid it on the line. Bear either needed to get it together or she’d be finding a new home. She heard me loud and clear.
One day, Charlotte and Bear will be besties, too. Charli will chase Bear, pulling her tail and choking her with hugs. But until then, I have a chatterbox 3 month old and a coughing cat.
This Side of the Rainbow 