Felicity came to us at 3 weeks old. Her momma died suddenly just a few days before this picture was taken.I took care of 4 orphaned kittens while the owners went on vacation.I was allowed my pick of the litter and I chose this little black kitten.At 5 months of age we had her spayed and her personality changed. She became angry and aloof to me but I learned to deal with her moods.At one year of age she seemed to be sick a lot. The vets could find no reason for it so we changed her diet.
One day while hurrying to get some housework done she jumped up and sunk her teeth into my arm . I figured I scared her and thought nothing of it. After that she bit again every now and then. 2 or 3 months ago she became dehydrated lethargic. After 2 trips to the vet and 3 days of constant care she seemed to be back to normal.(except for the biting) She had also quit using her litter box except for urine. The only answer the vet could give was that maybe she needed privacy. We thought maybe it was her litter , but she used it once in a great while. 3 and half weeks ago I was scratching her head when she seemed to become annoyed.I left her alone and walked away and that is when she attacked. I heard her jump off the bed and then I felt the searing pain in the back of my leg.I screamed and turned to hit her in order to get her off of me.After 2 hours of agonizing pain I made my way to the urgent care where they washed my wounds and I asked for something to stop the pain.
To make a long story short we kept the cat for about 11 days after that incident.She bit me a couple more times but nothing too serious. After her quarantine was up I could handle the agony no longer. Something had changed. She was almost as afraid of me as I was her. With tears streaming down my face I took her to be euthanized. That was one of the hardest decisions and worst days of my life.I miss her terribly but no shelter would take her because of her erratic behavior. Perhaps she would never have bitten anyone else, but if she had I would have felt awful. So I said goodbye and cried myself to sleep that night. I was so sad I went to the pet store where a local no kill shelter houses some of the cats available for adoption. I played with the cats and even found one or two that seemed to be good replacement for the one I had just given up.
When I went back the next day one of the cats I was eyeing had been adopted. Out of seven cats I could only find one that I really liked. His tag said his name was Copper,he was neutered and 2 and half years old;Just a year younger than Felicity was. I felt like a murderer who did not deserve another animal but friends and family said I did the right thing and from what they had seen of her ,I should have given her up a lot sooner. Well I went to pet Copper and the first thing he did was start purring. A cat purring for me? My cat had not purred for me (except when she ate) in a couple of years. Copper came home to live with us on Dec.3rd,2009. We put him in the master bath and stayed with him a short while. An hour later he was meowing to get out so we opened the door and he walked around like he knew the place.Later that night he jumped on the bed and laid at my feet. (mind you this was about 4 hours after we brought him home). The next night he came and laid on the bed again this time wrapping his little arms around me and sticking his head under my chin. I was Little frightened at first but by the sound of the little humming that sounded like a soft drum roll I soon relaxed and fell asleep.This is day 3 and he has found his spot on a chair underneath the table. He has discovered that the cat food food is underneath the sink and the litter box works just fine as long you can bury whatever might be eliminated in it. I think he needed me as much as I needed him.
This is a wonderful story, even if it has some sadness in it. I think it's important for readers to know how sick that last cat bite made you, because it was not just for inconvenience or small pain that you had to quarantine her. And if she passed that kind of infection on to you, it could have been from whatever was in her that was causing her bad reactions.
ReplyDeleteI think you were merciful to her and probably took her out of some misery. And, in return, now you have a baby that needed someone to love as much as you needed him to share your love with. Great job in both what you've done and in telling about it little sister.