All About Pets

Bitty Girl has ALWAYS been crazy.  I see people with their kittehs, all snuggly, letting their humans carry them, etc., Bitty Girl never did that.

 

Why can't you be normal?

You're still cute, though.

Lily, my first cat, 9 years ago.  She is a total bitch and it's that sole reason why she lives with my mom.  She refused to live with Apolo and Logan, her brothers from another litter, and even lunged at Apolo once.  Bitch.  But, I love her. 

"You think I look bad?  Shit, you should see them."

This is what happens when you're a bitch and you take on the racoons, you wear the Cone of Shame. 

My Lily, plant killer and guard dog.

Logan is all sorts of needy and whiny, but remarkably, he's the alpha male.  He has no balls so I don't get it.  I just notice that he calls the shots and he gives looks to the others and they back away.  Odd. 

Because I can. 

One of these days, I am going to buy this and find out, once and for all, what the fuck they do all day.  Maybe I'll just get shots of the couch.

Boochie, Apolo and Logan many years ago.  Sigh.

Watching me eat dinner, praying that a crumb fell or I had mercy on those eyes.  I did.  I'm a sucker.

It wasn't always cats.  I had a dog once, for about a month. 



His name was Atticus and he was magical.  Then, he grew a bit bigger than the cats and started playing a bit too rough with them.  They didn't like it so they started hiding.  They were never hiders so, I made the choice of giving him away.  The cats won, they were here first.  He was a good dog, other than the aforementioned, and was crate-trained. 

They know me well at the vet's. 

I Was Unprepared

Today marks the 2nd anniversary of the passing of the BNC's beloved Grandmother. If I close my eyes and transport myself out of here, I can smell her house with that Grandma smell made up of food, candles and memories. I can feel her hands so translucent, soft, warm, nurturing. I can hear her voice announcing our arrival to her home whether anyone was there or not. And most certainly I can feel the love. It was evident from our first introduction, several years before, that she held the BNC in extremely high regard. Watching them together, as the BNC turned into mush, warmed my heart. Her passing had been expected for a while but it still came as a surprise because you always think you have a little more time. And that is awful, just awful. The family, huge even by Mexican standards, slowly gathered at her home as the day progressed completely at a loss as to what to do. Grandma passed at home, in her sleep while her only daughters (2 of them) were with her. In all honesty, I had never been in a home where a body lay and simply calling Grandma that makes me feel sick to my stomach, but it was something different for me. Then again, I was not present when my own Grandfather passed away including other members of my family. My Grandpa's passing was the first funeral I had ever attended and I was 21 years old. But, it's this unfamiliarity with death that would break me to pieces the day after Grandma died because it was then when I had to put Boochie down. It was something unfamiliar to me as well. I didn't know it was going to be that hard and if you don't know something then you can't truly prepare for it. So, I fell apart very slowly. By the end of this particular 2-day period, I couldn't cry anymore. I was so defeated as I was unprepared for both of these deaths. I was unprepared to sit in a house waiting for them to show up and take Grandma away. I was unprepared to watch her get wheeled out of the house while I held my breath for what seemed like an eternity. I was unprepared to see so many people cry for the first time in the entire time I had known them. I was unprepared to say good-bye to her. I was unprepared to go home and finally succumb to the decision that had to be made concerning my cat. I was unprepared to say good-bye there too. I was unprepared to walk into the vet's office as the staff gave me The Look. I was unprepared to hold him while he went to sleep indefinitely while I cried and cried for him because I kept thinking this is not happening. I was unprepared to go to sleep without him that night. I was unprepared for the lasting effects of putting the greatest cat ever down to sleep. I was unprepared for the hole he left in my heart and my little family. I was unprepared for these back to back deaths. I was unprepared for just how awful that week was going to be. I was unprepared of how hard the life of a pet owner could be. And here I am, 2 years later, most certainly prepared but now with a bandage on my heart because that's where it hurts the most.

Grandma was buried on Halloween day and since November 1st is Day of the Dead, we will be spending the afternoon at the cemetary just like we did last year.

We totally fit.

Cleaning & Sorting

While cleaning and organizing my photos I found the following that made me laugh as well as sigh very deeply.

The orange tree outside my parents's home. It's a pain to get the ones at the top. It's where a ladder and the BNC come in handy. My parents share their bounty with the couple across the street who have a peach tree. It's a nice companion to the avocado tree on the opposite side of the front yard. Viva Mexico!

Prior to my brother's diagnosis, I had already decided to grow out my hair to donate to Locks of Love. It was a difficult process since my hair was layered and the donated hair has to be one length and at least 10" long. In September of 2009, I reached my goal. It meant a great deal to me since it took on a more personal meaning earlier in the year. In all honesty, I may never do it again. I loathe long hair on me since I have curly, fine hair and it's a pain in the boom boom to care for. Let's not even get into the humidity.

Bitty Girl chilling on the floor of my car as we await the vet to open for business so Bitty can get her spaying on. She doesn't do well inside the pet taxi.

Oh yea, she is adorable but she singlehandedly brought Christmas down last year. I woke up one morning to find the star that was atop the tree on the floor. I had to bring it down or run the risk of having my beloved Transformers ornaments broken. It took me a year to find one of the lambs that had been missing from the nativity scene.

Boochie rubbing up against Joseph. Sigh. One of the best cats ever.

And I cannot believe that I'll be 34 next week. Already? The only plans I have are dinner. I want dinner, dinner, dinner. And froyo.

The Itty Bitty Kitty Committee

The IBKC is having a drive right now to raise funds for the Humane Society in the Tacoma/Seattle area. I thoroughly enjoy this blog and have donated money already. However, Monday night I was going through an old SD card and found pictures of my beloved Boochie. And then I got teary-eyed. He was the best and he continues to be missed. Even as Bitty Girl picks up some of his weird habits, such as tearing paper to smithereens or being the neighborhood watch, I know he's not too far away either in my thoughts or actually sitting in my closet.

The nice folks at IBKC are doing great work. If you can, give them a visit. And if you can any further, donate. Thank you in advance.

Missing

I really, really miss my cat, Boochie. I had to put him down on October 27, 2008, just 1 day after the BNC's beloved grandmother passed away. What a crappy week that was. I have 3 cats at home now. Bitty Girl was acquired late last year and Lily lives with my parents. Lily, Apolo and Logan's mother went to the neighbors years ago after we left our first home. I know, a lot of cats. But, out of all of them, Boochie had a special place in my heart. He was incredibly smart and loving. He was also the only one allowed to sleep with me. He slept near my feet unlike Logan and Apolo who steal my breath and sleep on my head. Boochie also learned, on his own, to nudge me in the back to signal that he needed/wanted out. He usually wanted back in and he would make that scratching sound at the door a few minutes after I left him out. He was a great companion especially considering that the BNC comes home late which leaves me alone at night a lot.

Slowly he developed numerous UTIs and then liver disease and jaundice. Putting him down was the worst decision (but one of the best) I have ever made yet I was determined to not let my boy die alone. I held him as they made him sleep and it was then that I cried so hard that, to this day, I have no idea how I slept that night. The life of a pet owner is hard and while I still shudder at what I had to do, I know he's ok and no longer dying a painful death before my eyes. Apolo and Logan really missed him. They would go room to room searching for him and crying out at the same time. Since he loved being outside, we buried him in the yard yet, when we recently moved, Boochie was our first thought. We didn't want him staying at a home where his momma no longer would be staying at. So, our good friend Jorge, dug him up and put him in a box. We then took him to the vet and had him cremated. Now he sits on my desk in the box the company who cremated him so lovingly arranged for me. I am still searching for the perfect little urn/box to hold him in. I was surprised that his ashes amount to the size of a small quail egg. All that love is now a tiny pile of ashes and it pains me to see it everyday yet I laugh from all the teeth marks Bitty Girl has left as she likes to chew things. Boochie is the only pet I have ever euthanized and, it is through that experience that has prepared me should anyone else need it.

Sigh, the challenges of being a pet owner is learning when to say good bye.