We have a new addition in our family. The other day I was getting the girls in the van to go drop off Nadia at kindergarten when Nadia started laughing. I looked and a cat had jumped in our van and was snuggling with her. It was so random and we enjoyed his company for a while before we pulled him out and drove off. Nadia kept asking me all the way to school if the cat was still at our house when I got home if we could keep him. "We'll see" was my reply.
We've wanted a cat for a decade, but ever since Rowan showed allergic reactions to Bleen our first cat and then at the SPCA when we tried to adopt another cat, we'd pretty much given up hope of that ever working out. I'd toyed with the idea of getting a Siberian cat which is supposed to be hypoallergenic, but who wants to spend $1000 on a cat that may or may not get run over by a car?
Yet it's been hard for me to see my kids grow up without pets. Most of my childhood memories involved one animal or another. I really think it's an important part of childhood. But Steve and I are not dog fans, we tried fish and were underwhelmed, and don't care much for lizards and the like.
I drove around town running errands for a while after dropping off Nadia and was surprised to see the cat still waiting around in our driveway when I got home. He ran into our house and promptly made himself at home. We put together some food and a litter box and waited until we had time to take him to the vet to see if he had a microchip. The kids fell in love with him, but knew we'd have to give him back to his owners. We have pets all the time dropping by our house after getting lost, perhaps due to living so close to the park. We were sure this was no exception.
Long story short, there was no microchip and our 7 month old kitty was not neutered. We claimed him as our own and the kids have been over the moon ever since. I'm so grateful we are able to provide this experience for our kids and to find a cat who puts up with them so well. The girls stalk him all day long and he has shown way more tolerance than most cats would. It's been especially good for Elsa to have something to distract her other than TV while her siblings are at school. The other night she was having a fit in her bed after waking up in the middle of the night (a common occurrence unfortunately) and the cat jumped up into her bed (top bunk no less). She immediately stopped crying and was able to go back to sleep. This cat is worth his weight in gold for that alone.
His name is Spaz. Aptly named because he's a bit crazy, but we love him a lot. Rowan has not reacted to him at all and we are so very thankful for that.
One last story. A few days after we spent the money getting him up to date and fixed, I was having a bad day. It was one of those days that break you as a mom and I was really frustrated. So frustrated, that I was a little lax about keeping the doors shut while carting children in and out of the van. The vet told us to keep him indoors for 2 weeks to help him figure out where home was now and also to let him heal. Anyways, we couldn't find the cat anywhere. I figured he had run out while I wasn't looking and took off. The kids were crushed and admittedly so were Steve and I. I had gone around the neighborhood like a crazy woman with two kids in tow calling out for the cat. We left food outside hoping he'd come home. It was evening and still no luck when we heard a plaintive meow coming from somewhere. After determining it wasn't coming from outside, we found Spaz in our crawl space. He had fallen behind a built in dresser in Rowan's room and was currently stuck in his sock drawer. He's not very vocal so he'd been stuck in there most of the day. Thankfully, he has hasn't given us any more cause for concern in terms of running away.
Trying to get away from the girls, he climbed up the playground with few options for getting down. Poor thing took the slide.
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