I used to like cats. Really.

I have 3 cats and I am ashamed to admit it. One would think that I am a cat person, but far from it!

I’ve always had a cat as a kid there was Frankie, Margo, Petie, Little Al.  So naturally when John boy and I got an apartment together what were we missing… a cat.  I guess the time of year wasn’t right because there were no free cats in the paper, no kittens at the pound to adopt nothing.  But then we did find a lady with cats and she had one left so we went and picked up Jazmin our little bundle of joy, this was 1994 and who knew she would hold the freakin world record for life.

Jazmin 17 yrs old

We always thought Jazmin our perfect little kitten was lonely during the day when we were at work so about a year later we wanted to add a new kitten to our family.  Again there were no kittens anywhere to be found.  We did find a farm family with one kitten left again another girl and we had to drive 45 minutes to get her.  So we did, and that is when Cali joined our union in 1995.

Cali 16 yrs old

Jazmin seemed a little pissy when we brought home Cali, but we thought it was just a phase and she would get over it.  Well she never has gotten over it and has been pissy pants everyday of her life.  Every now and then Jazmin will give us a peek of what she was like when she was an only cat, but it is rare!  When I say pissy pants I mean if you walk by her she growls, if you grab for something near her she will shoot towards you hissing, growling and bite you.

A year after we added Cali, John boy knew of a co-worker at work who’s cat just had kittens and if he didn’t find homes for them he was going to take them to the pound.  So we went over “just to look”.

We looked alright, looked at the cutest little marmalade fur ball I’d ever seen.  Only problem is he was infested with fleas.  If I remember correctly I knew a family that wanted a kitten and I took this cat thinking we will rid it of fleas and give the cat to the family.  If you have ever handpicked fleas out of a kitten you know that is too much work to just turn and give it away.  That is how we acquired Mongo.

Mongo 15 years old, sleeping on my side near my pillow

Together we all lived happily.  Jazmin of course lived pissily. 

Years later it was time for children, as soon as our eldest was born we noticed someone peeing on things.  And one night I got into bed and Mongo climbed up and pee’d right on Johns pillow.  We thought he was saying “get rid of the kid”.  We took him to the vet and he had crystals in his urine blocking his urethra, so it would just release at any given time.  Mongo was about 3 years old and the Dr. could either unblock the urethra for $300 with the chance that it could happen again, or do a sex change operation which she’d never done before so we would get a 50% discount and it would never happen again, but It would still cost $1200.  I wanted to put the cat to sleep.  John boy did not!!  We opted for the $300 un blockage with the agreement that if it happened again we would put him to sleep.  11 years later and it hasn’t happened again.

The cats have always been outdoorsy cats.  They have always caught rodents in the yard and left them at the doorstep for us to see.  One year the cats caught 8 moles, eight!!  Can you imagine the damage to our yard had those cats not killed them.  Birds, bunnies, moles, mice, and their babies.

We have noticed the cats aging in the last few years and changing into their elderly selves.  Jazmin can barley walk she is so slow, yet she still jumps onto the side of the tub every time I bathe, hasn’t missed one of my baths in 17 years.  Cali is still the friendliest cat but has a bit of a stomach issue and every time she eats she pukes.  We have a lot of puke.  Sometimes the dog will eat it as long as it’s not warm and no one is looking at him.  Mongo has a bit of tooth decay but that dosen’t slow him down in the field.  We have a doggie door now and Mongo is the only one who will use it.  He uses it to venture out in the night and feed.  He brings in his finds and puts them in our room so we will see it when we wake in the am.  Most recently he put a mouse in Johns path and when John stepped on it the next morning he thought it was puke, turned the light on and nope mouse.  When he stepped on it, it splatted on the door. Yuck!!

I can’t wait for these cats to pass on.  John won’t let me put them to sleep. He wants them to die of natural causes.  Every time we come home from vacation I think at least one will be dead.  Nope all still alive.  Is their a Dr. Cat’vorkian?  I got a book from the library "The secret life of your cat" by Vicky Halls, in this book it said to have a talk with your cat and let them know it's okay that they pass on.  I sat them all down and very seriously told them it was okay to go be with Jesus.  They all awoke the next morning.

FOR THE RECORD
*I think cats are cute and cuddly and I love people that like cats *