Loosing Pets

Four Cats Can Tug at Your Heart Strings

My wife and I have come to a very difficult decision. Our four year old grandson is extremely allergic to cats. Every time he stayed in our home for only a few moments he would start having reactions that were much like asthma attacks. He no longer visited us because of this allergy. Additionally, our youngest son also had allergic reactions to our cats. Our decision was simple. We had to get rid of our cats.

I tried to get some friends to help us find homes for these pets. However, we had to turn to the local animal shelter in hopes that they could find someone to adopt the cats.

The cats quite innocently entered our lives. Patty was our first. Small in statue, but large in character. Patty was what some call a calli-tab. She was head of household and didn't mind showing her superiority. Even with her smallness, Patty was clumsy for a cat. If something hit the floor, we usually blamed her. Of course, she would give the look as if to say,"who me"?

I became interested in a cat show here in town and volunteered to help out. I became acquainted with Maine Coon cats. I thought they were so cool and their disposition seemed laid back. We learned that a friend had a litter of kittens that were mixed Maine Coon. Needless to say we got two. One a very typical looking Maine Coon who we called Rocky. The second was a beautifully white marked kitten who was called Princess. On their first visit to the vet, we learned of Princess's hear murmur. Princess, is a very shy cat. She really didn't care for much affection. She would, however, help preen the others. Rocky developed into a really cool cat. He didn't let the others give him any grief.

Our fourth cat was a little black cat that we called Kizzy. She was a good companion to the others and she could get into some trouble because of her youth. One of our sons has Kizzy now and we have his cat who did not like the move to a new home. Simba is a good sized yellow cat. He is terribly shy. I have not seen him in about a month. I understand that he does get up early in the morning for his feeding and immediately goes back to bed to sleep for another 20 hours. Simba did not care about interacting with the others and I don't believe that this hurt their feelings.

We have been a bit blue around here lately. Every time we see a picture of a cat, we see one of ours. After all the dander and shedded fur is cleaned, we hope that our home is more agreeable to our grandson and his uncle.

We have been fortunate to bring another pet into our home. Jack, our Boston Terrier, does not seem to cause too many alergies. He is a joy and a good friend.