It seems like most people have a pet nowadays. Do you? I have had 2 in my life.
When I was a little kid in Chicago we had a dog, Penny. She was a Springer Spaniel. Those are beautiful dogs. Medium build and lively. We just loved her. So fun to play with. Gosh. What a sweetie! When she died we all cried so much. I remember my brother who was in high school at that time, coming home and standing there crying. Men didn’t cry a lot when I was a kid…it wasn’t “manly” so to speak. But there he was…sobbing.
Fast forward several years and I’m on my own, in my own apartment. My neighbor, who happened to be the director of the local opera company I sang with at that time, had a cat who gave birth to a few kittens. So when they were born he asked me if I wanted one. Yes! So I went over by him and had to look under the bed to see Mom and her little tiny kittens. I saw my future pet a couple of hours after she was born.
I ended up getting a calico cat with a real snarky personality…I guess like her new owner. Hahaha! A calico cat has multiple colors…black and white and a little gray. She was so cute! She was so little that at night she would sneak up on my bed and sleep on the corner of my pillow. I would wake up in the morning and see a cat right above my head. Adorable!
I named her Pushenka. I didn’t realize what it meant until a few years later, when someone told me it meant “soft and fluffy.” She was! But she was also a real character. And like most cats, she ruled the apartment. I thought I actually did but I was wrong. And the only other person whose lap she would sit on was my Mom. She pretty much avoided everyone else I had over.
This was also the time in my life I realized I was allergic to pets. Hmmm. Well since I met her right after she was born I couldn’t give her up. Instead I got allergy shots from my doctor. He recommended several times that I give up the cat but you know, I just couldn’t. So I sneezed a lot at that time. The shots helped.
She liked to sleep on the bed but that was not allowed due to my allergies. She had her own nice area…bed, eating arrangement, litter box, toys…her own “cat apartment” within my apartment. But numerous times I would wake up in the morning and see her sleeping at the foot of my bed in the exact position in which I was sleeping. And yet another morning I woke up and could see into the kitchen, and she was looking back at me from the kitchen sink. Why was she sitting in the sink? She was soooo funny!
Then I had brain surgery. I was in the hospital 17 days. My brother and little nephew went to my apartment to feed her and see what she needed. She survived. Then I came home. She literally screamed at me non-stop until I screamed back at her to shut up! I guess she was mad I wasn’t around for a little over 3 weeks and I didn’t tell her.
However, 6 weeks after I came home and was doing quite well, she died. Pushenka was 17 1/2 years old. I cried on top of her to the point where she was soaking wet by the time my Mom got me to stop crying. Mom cared for me every day for almost 6 weeks after I came home from the hospital. So Mom was there, and my sister, to help me out with this new pain.
So, I cleaned out “cat apartment” and moved on. I still don’t have another pet to this day because of allergies. And really, when you’ve had a couple of real sweet and adorable (and snarky) pets in your life, how do you keep getting another one when the current pet dies? I was attached to Pushenka for a long time. It’s not that easy. But I do enjoy other people’s pets.
One thing about pets I tend to not agree with is the fact that people bring their pets almost everywhere. Yes there are plenty of times to take them with you but trips to the grocery store, other shopping, errands in general, I just don’t see the point. And weather is an issue too. A nice cool spring day is fine. But hot summer days, leaving the pet in the car with the a/c on in hot weather is not something I agree with. Same with cold winter weather…leaving the pet in the car with the heat on. Leave the pet at home. They need their space too, including being away from us. Then they’re over-the-top happy to see us when we get home! Who doesn’t love that?!
So this is the story of pets in my life. Now I talk to stuffed animals. I’ve already written about that. It’s interesting what we do for comfort in our lives. Pets, stuffed animals, pie…if it brings you comfort and joy, just do it!
