Some people say I am an animal lover- those who know me well describe me as more as an animal loving psychopath. I deal with the pain and suffering of people on a daily basis at work, but the thought of an animal being neglected or abused makes me want to vomit. I want to pull out my karate chop move on those who inflict the pain on animals (I can be more scary than I look... I have been lifting weights...) When I married Jerome, he knew what he was getting into. A marriage to me equals a life of animals in the home.
Shadow #1... Ditty the Kitty
the first addition to our home came in 2003. i began my search at the animal shelters, which was quite difficult. all of the cats were beautiful in their own way. while at the humane society of greater kansas city, i was in the kitten room looking at all of the kittens in their cages. as i was leaning down to peek at the kittens in the lower cages, i felt a big "pop" to the top of my head. glancing back up to see what just happened, a white kitten was peaking at me- the look said it all, "yeah, that was me that just hit you on the head. what you gonna do about it?" curious, i took him out of his cage. he was quite a fiesty one. about 12 weeks old, the lady at the humane society said they found him at the side of the road with bugs all over him and close to death. his neck had 2 large holes from bot flies that were burrowing their way to his heart. she explained that they had used funds donated through the gabriel fund to nurse him back to health. the holes in his neck were slowly healing and they were having difficuly adopting him out because of them. seeing that we all have holes in us somewhere, visible or not, i decided to adopt him and give him a chance.
since ditto's adoption, he has been my shadow for the last 6 years. he has helped me through my nursing program and masters program and is now about to help me through my doctorate. he is always by my side. as i write this he is laying on my left forearm purring. when i am having a stressful day at work or upset, i think about the peace i will have at home laying on the couch with my cat purring on my chest. just looking at him helps to relieve a lot of stress. and jerome? although he was not a cat person prior to the adoption of ditty, he now has found one of his biggest fans. he thinks the cat is "alright". i think he thinks more than this since i frequently find them snuggling on the couch.
i strongly suggest the adoption of animals. it is weird because in some way i think they know that their life was saved by you. they make great pets and become a reliable best friend. they may not all be purebred, but neither are we- we all have imperfections! the holes on his neck are now healed and a small scar remains. now each christmas we donate money to the humane societies gabriel fund: http://www.hsgkc.org/gabrielfundpage.htm
Well-put. I wish we could have a cat but JD is allergic. He thinks he could maybe tolerate a purebred Siamese, as a friend of his had them in high school and he never had problems around them. But we got a dog instead to avoid the issue. Maybe someday I will have a feline friend. Also, I would really like to see your karate chop move:)
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