I Am Not A Cat Person.
I have had very bad experiences with cats. When I was 10 years old, I got my first cat. She was a stray black cat I named Sophie that would sunbathe in my backyard day after day. One day I convinced my mom that she looked pregnant and that we should take her to the vet. This was all part of my grand scheme to convince my parents to adopt her, which they agreed to after they saw how much I cared for her. As is turns out, Sophie was a "he" and he wasn't pregnant, but looked pregnant because he had AIDS. I had never, ever heard of a cat having AIDS. The vet ended up having to put him down which left me heartbroken.
I shouldn't have been surprised when we walked into the shelter and all three of my roommates got their heart set on a little grey kitten with bright orange eyes hiding in the corner behind his brothers and sisters. I'd never imagined in a million years that I would ever have a cat again, and now Salem and I are inseparable. He rarely leaves my side; I'd forgotten what it was like to have a constant companion around like I have with my dog at home.
We got adopted out second cat a few years later at the local pet shelter in order to avoid any more diseased cat situations and named her Xima. Xima was mostly an outdoor cat because my dad is allergic, so she would roam the hills behind out house then come home for dinner. A couple years into having Xima, she disappeared for a couple days. We searched the hills behind our house for a week until finally one day I went out to look for her alone and found that she had been killed by a coyote. The experience was so traumatic that, from that point on, I had a personal vendetta against cats. I swore never to adopt another cat because they only brought grief and I never wanted to experience that feeling again.
I'd steered clear of cats for the next 10 years until a couple weeks ago when my roommate texted in our house group chat, joking about adopting a cat for us all to share. My other roommates were super excited about the possibility of having a cat living with us as our "emotional support animal" and I felt so bad turning down the idea. So, when they asked if I would go with them to The Cat Lounge to browse around, I decided to stay open to the idea and go.
It is so beneficial to stay open to new experiences that you might not have tried if you weren't pushed out of your comfort zone; you just might surprise yourself!
Hi Genna!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the story you shared and how you ultimately brought it back to the idea that it is always beneficial to stay open to new experiences because you never know what may change. All around us things are changing for better and for worse so it’s important to keep that open mind. For example if you would have told your roommates no to a cat, you never would have discovered your love for salem. I think oftentimes we try to generalize bad experiences to decide we instantly dislike something after one inconvenience; if everyone lived life with more of an open mind then there would be less to be upset about and dislike.
I am so sorry to hear about your cat. I have never heard of animals having AIDS, so it was shocking news to me. It was great you opened up about your emotional and traumatic story. I am also sorry to hear your other cat tragically passed to a coyote. The grief of losing a pet is horrible to endure. The picture of Salem is so cute and I am glad you have a companion around now that is also an emotional support animal! It was amazing that you had an overall message to always push yourself out of your own comfort zone.
ReplyDeleteHey Genna!
ReplyDeleteI very much enjoyed reading your story. It is nice that after bad experiences, you stepped out of your comfort zone and decided to love another cat. I love cats, but unfortunately, I do not have a cat as my mom does not like animals, I hope in the future to get one. My dad is a cat person as he grew with cats in my home country, some of his cats would get killed also. My dad will feel heartbroken. He had other cats to be close to, but the ones that you create memories with will always stay in his heart. He still talks about them to me today, and I could feel the sadness in his heart.Keep up the good work.
Sorry for your lose. It was shocking to know that cats have AIDS
DeleteHi Genna! I have not had good experiences with pets early in my life as well. The grief is difficult to deal with when you form such a strong attachment. I had a cat named Zeb from the age 13 thru most of my 20s. When I found out she had kidney disease and was in a lot of pain, I was devastated to put her down. I mustve been an emotional wreck for a long time. Recently, my roommate got a new kitten who looks a lot like Zeb when she was a kitten. I was afraid of the pain from missing Zeb but now I just look back at our time fondly. Thanks for sharing your story!
ReplyDeleteHi Genna!
ReplyDeleteI can tell that the beginning of your blog post really shows a lot about your personality, and I love how you are so expressive in your writing. It feels as though you are telling me a story like we are in person. I personally have never been fond of cats until I came to college and so many of my friends have them. I have always been a dog person, so I was very timid of cats because I wasn’t familiar with them. Your stories that you shared really reveal a lot about your personality and I thought that this was a very cute and funny blog to read.
Hi Genna!
ReplyDeleteSalem is Cute and adorable and he looks so happy and content! I really enjoyed reading your post this week and really related to it as well. Along time ago my boyfriend and I rescued a kitten that was getting ready to be Put down by his previous owner. We loved him so much and I about four years old he started to get really sick and we too found out that he had feline aids. It was devastating and it hurt so bad when he died a few weeks later. I can totally understand not to mention the other things that you went through why it will be hard to have or love another cat again. I took a lot of comfort in your blog post this week and honestly inspired me and warmed my heart to the idea of having another kitten. So happy that you can Salem have found each other! Loved his sleepy little eyes in all the pictures!