Pets

I haven't done very well with being consistent here. I'm not sure if there is some unwritten rule about how often one is supposed to blog. Oh well! I guess I'll just do it when the urge strikes.

On that note, our cat, Holly, returned to us last night after being missing since Sunday afternoon. We had been out on several searches for her with no results. We weren't sure where exactly to look, and if we should look for a body along the road, or a cat in need of ambulatory care. All in all, it was very frustrating. My biggest worry was that she was hurt somewhere and suffering and I couldn't get to her and get her help. By yesterday, I was actually praying that she was dead and had been the whole time. I just couldn't stand the thought of her needing us and us not being there for her. Thank God, she came home last night. A little thin and very thirsty, she was otherwise okay.

All of this has brought home how much our pets are a part of our lives and family. It was very strange to not see her around here. She wasn't there in the morning yelling at me to get her some food NOW!! We have built a routine around her and our dog, Joey, the same we have around our kids. If that routine is missing a part, I go through the day thinking I've forgotten to do something. Going to bed, knowing I've left something incomplete, made for a difficult night's sleep.

I always had a pet of some sort growing up. It was something that made our family complete. They drive you nuts, then and now, but also can make you laugh like nothing else. I had a cat, Muffin, the whole time I was growing up. She was originally my Aunt Debi's, but when she married an Englishman and moved to the UK, we inherited Muffin. She lived to be 19, although my uncle Steve(said Englishman) insisted that we kept just getting a new cat that looked like her. She used to catch hummingbirds, of all things, without any front claws. Pissed my mom like nothing. One time, she even managed to knock one into the house through the open sliding glass door. There were feathers everywhere. I took some to school for show and tell. By far the weirdest thing about her was her fascination with notebook paper. I can't remember how many times I would be doing homework and she would come lay in the middle of my paper that I was working on. We actually tested the theory that it was attention she was after or the feel of the paper. We laid a piece of paper in the middle of the floor and she promptly went and plopped herself down on it.

Every pet my family has had, has some kind of quirk. And is continues at my house now with my own family. Joey catches flies better than Holly (and eats them). He also will bury his head under a blanket and bark until you wrestle with him. Best of all, he makes Chewbacca noises. It's so cool! Holly will suck on a catnip toy like it's a pacifier and then run her high off through all three floors of the house. She also likes to drink out of the toilet. Usually, I would expect this from a dog not a cat.

Best of all, is the comfort they will provide when everything else has ceist (sp?) to work. My mom had to serve jury duty on a rape trial once. Every night she came home from court and took our dog, Brandy, into their bedroom and told her all about the day. Brandy was the only one Mom could talk to. For me, it's the days when I've just had it and Joey or Holly will come up and just sit with me and love me. They don't need anything, aren't whining or complaining. Just sitting there with me and chillin'. Or when I've been sick and they spend the day on the couch or in bed with me. That simple comfort I wouldn't trade for anything.

These are all the things I'll try to remember the next time Joey poops on the basement floor, or Holly pukes on the couch. :)