Crazy Cat Lady

 Happy Gotcha Day!

Sophie has been with us for a year.  To refresh your memory, she came to us through my ex-husband who is friends with someone at a shelter in Baltimore.  Her owner moved to assisted living, he said.  The cat is 20 years old and will die in a shelter if you don't take her.

First response:  fuck you.  Don't make me feel badly for a cat I've never met.

Second response:  You suck.  I can't let a cat die in a shelter because his owner had to move to assisted living.

We went to meet her, a firm NO already in my head.  The shelter-house was FULL OF CATS. She runs a shelter from her home.  Kittens were crawling up my leg.  Something that looked like a small tiger was eyeing me suspiciously and a freaky looking creature with no fur wanted attention.  No, no and no.

Sophie was kept apart from the others until she had been checked out by the vet.  Andrew and I met her in a separate room, an office.  She was in a crate.  She finally came out, nuzzled us and purred.  Damn you, ex husband.  We are getting a cat. 

We filled out paperwork and paid fees.  Andrew and Anja rushed up to get her before the curfew went into effect, shutting down our world. The shelter's vet said she was closer in age to 13 years or so.  Our vet confirmed this.  My mindset of "I can live with anything for a year or two" has changed to "I'm so happy she'll be with us longer."  For the first many months, she lived in our (finished) basement.  She didn't venture upstairs and spent a lot of time hiding behind the couch.  

Then in September, we had a flood in our basement.  Sophie's world went wonky.  Now she had to go upstairs because the floors and walls were being ripped out.  It was a total noisy mess.  She decided Anja would be her new roommate.  Anja didn't know what she was in for.

So now it's been a year.  She loves us and I think she realizes how much we love her.  She is in many ways our emotional support animal.  About a month or so ago, she learned out to play.  Though we have many toys, the shoelace on a string seems to be her favorite.  It's also become apparent that she is visually impaired.  We suspected as much because she walks into things.  But when she went to catch the shoelace, it was evident.  She's not a fan of catnip (what kind of cat is this?) and is a super picky eater (thank you dollar store for selling something she likes).  She sheds, she vomits on the carpet even though the hardwood floor or tile is literally a foot away.  She demands attention as soon as the cameras on our laptops go on.  She's noisy and wants to play in the middle of the night.

We wouldn't want it any other way.