This was the second post ever on my blog. I was looking through old posts and I thought this tale was worth retelling.
Robert’s asthma and allergy appointment — on his first day home from college for his four-week Christmas break — didn’t go well. The doctor said we could get rid of the cat or put Robert up in a hotel for four weeks.
We’ve only had baby Olive for a year. We’re not too attached, but still. She’s a member of our family. We rescued her from a local pet shelter and committed to be her loving family. And she’s Robert’s little sister’s cat. Not mine. I felt before we agreed to give Olive away, we needed to discuss this with little sis. Or, let Olive be an outdoor cat.
I heard that Robert had posted on FB for a new home for Olive. Of course, as his loving mother, I’m filtered from seeing his posts. Grandpa, on the other hand, has full access to Robert’s FB account. He told me about the long and lengthy post about how I love the cat more than my own son. Short and shorter: we needed to get rid of the cat. Several people had said yes to adopt the furry feline. Some even called me!
Am I a terrible mother for not wanting to give away our pretty little kitty, Olive Bear?
Robert said I’m infected with Toxoplasma gondii and I’m in danger of turning into a crazy cat lady. I “googled” the toxo thing. It’s different than cat scratch fever, which can cause chills and a fever. T. gondii is a protein that invades your bloodstream and makes women crazy about cats. Or, it makes men crazy in a wild way. And there’s a link to schizophrenia. It’s why my OB GYN told me not to change the litter box while I was pregnant. However, he said that if I’d been around cats my entire life, most likely I was already infected. Great.
I know about crazy cat ladies. We had one in my home town. She lived in a house filled with felines and feces. Hundreds of cats. My parents drove me to her house out in the country a few miles from town. The home badly needed paint and had broken floorboards with cats leaping in and out of the foundation. We picked an adorable calico kitten named Pansy to bring home. Pansy died a few weeks later from feline pneumonitis.
I never had good luck with cats. I can name the ones we owned when I was young: Ting, Tack, Tenni-runner, No Name, Thomasina I, Thomasina II, Little Leticia, Bianco (white in Italian), Striscia (stripe in Italian), and my favorite, OJ Simpson. (I was a huge OJ fan. Remember, this was decades before I quit being one.)
We lost these cats (in addition to the aforementioned Pansy) by the time I reached first grade, due to an overzealous cat-hater neighbor. He caught them in a wooden trap, dropped them in a gunnysack, then tossed them in the river.
When we moved out into the country I had Soute´ (a French word from ballet that means jump) from second grade through high school. Coyotes and bears were kinder animals to our kitty than our former neighbor in town.
We adopted Sherman years before we had kids. That allergy doctor told me for years to get rid of Sherman. Robert was allergic to lots more things than cats. Things I couldn’t control, like rye grass and trees. Sherman lived from 1992 for 17 years — until a neighbor’s dog jumped a wall and killed him.
I know it’s terrible not to want to get rid of the cat. I never believed that our cat could be harmful to my child. Now, my son is living in beautiful Santa Barbara, going to college. He’s only home for visits. Or maybe it is the toxoplasmosis that let’s me rationalize all this.
Olive letting her temper show. Once my daughter left for college, Olive became mine. We found a solution to the allergy problem called an air purifier for our son’s room.
Looking back, was I bad mom for wanting to keep the Olive the cat?
What is the topic of your second post on your blog?
No. Omg I don’t have any idea what my first post was either!!
It’s interesting to look back.
LOL! I would have kept the cat as well EA 🙂
Good to hear! Especially with my son in college.
Oh, Olive. Honestly, it was hard to focus on what you wrote because I’m always entranced by sweet Olive – even when I see an obvious naughty pic! LOL! And thanks for the fun query about early posts…I just peeked. My second post when I returned to blogging here was about family history and loved ones. xo to you, this morning (and snuggles to Olive). 🥰
Olive is such a part of my life now. I can’t imagine not having her by my side. She hasn’t attacked any toilet paper since we moved. I think she enjoys life as an indoor cat! Family history and loved ones is what you write about the most! 😊
I adore Olive. She’s a cutie now, but her “baby pics”? Sigh. And yep – I guess I shouldn’t be surprised about my early post. I’m a little like Popeye…I am what I am! 🥰
Olive was a cutie kitten. I love the Popeye comparison 😀
😎🥰😎
👍🏼
I think when you’ve had a pet for a year, it would feel like abandoning a child by giving them away. It was a natural reaction.
That’s exactly how I felt. Also our son was no longer living at home.
Yes, exactly. 👍🏼
💕
Oh, it’s never good when the kids decide another “kid” is loved more. I love that you republished this one – especially because we know how beloved Olive is all these years later!!
Olive is indoor in AZ and such an important part of my life here.
Oh, I think you made the right choice. Ha ha. Just think all these years later … if you had gotten rid of poor olive! Ha ha
I agree. I’d be lost and lonesome without her! She’s now 11 years old.
Oh our kids! They forget that our animals are our kids too. Ha ha
Definitely!
Such a pretty kitty, your Olive! And no, you’re not a bad mom! How many times did I think the same thing for some reason or another? I’m learning to let that go.
Good for you! Thank you, Olive is pretty.
Heck no says every cat lover everywhere 😸
Yes!
Meow meow…some of us have more of this than others.
😂
Save the cat! That would have been my platform and you came up with a fabulous solution. What a story, he tried to give the cat away on Facebook, hysterical. My second blog was a birthday wish to my deceased father. Hugs, C
What a heart-wrenching post to your deceased father. Something to look back on and re-read for sure. At first, we put Robert in a hotel a few blocks from our house. Then the air purifier has worked ever since. Olive is now 11 years old!
I would have kept the cat and put Robert in a hotel! He was just visiting, after all. She’s a full-time resident.
My first blog post was probably more interesting than the second. I wrote in the first about the ancient bristlecone pines in Great Basin National Park. The second post was about a 19th-century relative whose biography I’ve been working on.
Interesting topics for blog posts. If I remember correctly, we did put Robert up in a hotel near by our house. We lived downtown within walking distance of many. Eventually we learned about air purifiers. We use it to this day whenever he visits.
I know what my first post said, I questioned whether I was ready to start a blog or not, but then hit “publish.” However I had to go see what my second post was and it was about a late January vacation to Disney World. Not an interesting post, but at least I managed to show up and say something.
Showing up is a big deal. It was for me when I started blogging. What a fun way to start your blog!
I have 3 he can give away, better yet what is his address, I’ll overnight them to him.
Haha!