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A feline with a Pokemon’s name: Part 2

  A few days passed and things started to even out.  Eevee had a few more accidents, but nothing out of the norm for a kitten.  She was getting really good at climbing the bathroom sink so, we began to slowly introduce her to different parts of the house.  It was fun to watch her explore and check things out for the first time.  Courtney came home one day with a new toy for her.  It was simple enough.  A yellow rod with a ribbon like thing tied to it made out of cloth.  It held three small cloth multicolored fish at the end of that.  Eevee loved it.  She would become mesmerized with it as we would swing it back and forth, up and down, side to side.  This became Eevee’s favorite game.  That and seeing just exactly what all she could scale in our home.  

  Court and I began to let her explore even more of the house.  I didn’t realize that cats were able to fit in behind and under such small places…  We introduced her to our friends and family.  She was a rambunctious, feisty little thing.  Court and I literally would race home at the end of the day just to see how she would entertain us next.  There was never a dull moment with her, thats for certain.  Eevee would always lay right beside the head of Courtney or myself when we would turn in for the night.  She would purr so loudly you would think she was a full grown cat rather than a tiny kitten.  Eevee would also knead constantly on Courtney or my pants leg when she was in our laps.  We weren’t sure why she did it so we entrusted the help of Google once more.  We discovered that a cat would knead its claws when it was content or on their mother.  Needless to say, Courtney and I were smitten upon reading this.  We had made her happy and were doing a good job as first time parents!  Almost instantly after we got her, Court began to snap pictures of Eevee in action.  Here are a few…

  After a few weeks, Eevee had began to use her litter box with less accidents.  We also had stopped giving her the medicine the Vet had given us for her stomach problems.  The problem had seemed to disappear.  Court and I began leaving her to her own devices while we were gone during the day.  After all, she couldn’t stay in that bathroom forever.  Everyday, Court and I would come home to Eevee sitting in the kitchen floor waiting for us.  She would always be there to greet us and make the stresses of the day go away.  We took her to get her second round of vaccinations and that little booger was growing so fast!  She had gained almost two pounds in two weeks!  

  One night, Courtney and I were having a small argument.  Eevee looked on as we discussed our conflicting viewpoints on whatever it was we were disagreeing about.  Courtney went off back to the bedroom to do some things and I stayed in the kitchen.  I began to clean the kitchen to calm my frustration.  Eevee sat on the kitchen rug and silently watched me.  It was almost as if she could sense that I was upset.  She looked on intently as I swept, mopped, cleaned the dishes and put them away.  I grabbed a cup and began to fill it up with water from the fridge.  Suddenly, I heard a small ‘meow’ and felt Eevee rubbing up against my leg.  A smile came across my face and I bent down and picked her up.  With Eevee in tow, I made my way to Courtney and embraced her.  It was almost as that small kitten had played therapist that night.  While she watched me in the kitchen, I took it as a look a concerned child gives a parent.  When she brushed up against my leg, I felt as if she wanted me to take her to her mommy.

  Days passed and Courtney and I initiated a system for cleaning out the litter box.  We would take turns and, every other day, one of us would scoop out Eevee’s litter box.  We began to notice that as time went on, there would be less and less of a mess for us to clean up.  Eventually, there turned out to be no mess at all for us to clean up.  Our concerns began to grow instantly.  We phoned the Vet and asked him about it.  He suggested giving her some pumpkin spice with mineral oil.  This acted as a natural laxative.  We gave her some and waited.  Instead of helping, the oil and spice made Eevee vomit.  Something was wrong and we knew it.  We boarded her at the Vet’s office for the weekend and left our little girl in hands we knew were more capable than ours.  We went to Arkansas for the weekend for a football game but couldn’t wait until we got home to our girl.

  Monday morning came and Courtney went to work and I went to fetch Eevee.  I promised Courtney that she would know how she was as soon as I got to her.  I assured her that there was nothing to worry about and she was going to be perfectly fine.  We kissed, said our goodbyes and headed in different directions.  I walked into the Vet’s office smiling and ready to see our small ball of fur.  The Vet was sitting behind the receptionist’s desk as I walked in.  This was strange.  I had never seen him waiting there before.  Maybe it was because he knew I was coming first thing to get Eevee.

“Hey Doc,” I said, “I’m here to take her off your hands.”

Instead of a laugh, Doc shook his head.

“Its not good.” He said was a discerning look.

My smile quickly disappeared and I stood before him motionless.  

“What is it?”  I asked.

  I followed him into another room and I could hear Eevee whining from the back.  He went on to explain to me how he had tried everything he could without exploratory surgery.  He also explained how that wasn’t even an option due to her age.  Eevee was about 8 or 9 weeks old.  We had gotten her when she was only 6 weeks.  I asked him what we could do and thats when I heard it.  He told me that he supposed she was abandoned by her mother at such a young age because of some nervous system defect that the mother could sense.  He said that Eevee could never get ahold of her bowels and her situation would only get worse with time.  Our only option was to put her down.  I instantly began choking back tears and trying to focus on other things to not cry.  I asked him if I could see her and he led me to the back room where her whining’s were emitting from.  

  There were other animals in the room, but I didn’t pay them any attention.  Eevee was trying to stick her small head through the cage to no avail.  I opened it up and she immediately jumped into my arms.  I could tell that she wasn’t feeling well and that she was scared.  Her fur didn’t have the same life to it and she was shaking.  I did my best to comfort her through my heavy sobs and told her everything was going to be okay.  I didn’t know how I was going to explain this to Courtney.  The worst part was, she couldn’t even be here with me due to work.  After about thirty minutes of consoling her, I put her back into the cage.  I turned quickly to avoid looking at her trying to get out to get to me.  

  I now faced a separate cage full of black kittens.  There were about 8 of them total, not making a sound, just sleeping together.  I noticed that only two of the litter were distinguishable from the others with white fur on their chests and stomachs.  I composed myself and walked back into Doc’s office.  I inquired about the other kittens and he told me they were free.  I asked him if he could get one of the black and white ones for me.  He complied and I left the office with our new kitten in tow.  I phoned Courtney and began to sob again.  I explained to her everything that I had just learned from Doc.  I told her that we were going to have to put her down, but I had gotten us a new kitten.  

  I went home and got the new kitten settled in and then headed to school.  When I arrived, I received a phone call from Courtney telling me that she was headed home to see Eevee one last time.  I immediately turned around and headed back to the Vet’s office.  Courtney and I now entered the room together to tell Eevee goodbye.  This had to be the hardest thing I have ever had to do or witness.  The new addition to our family was about to be gone out of our lives forever.  Courtney and I were both distraught.  We consoled Eevee the best we could one last time before leaving then headed towards the door.  

On our way out, Courtney saw the litter of black kittens that I had chosen one out of earlier.  She pointed out the other black and white kitten.  When we asked the Vet about it, he informed us that the one we had gotten and the other were the only females in the litter.  Without hesitation, Courtney looked at me and I nodded.  That day, as sad as it was, we came home with two new additions.  When we arrived home, we reunited the two girls together.  We sat in the floor watching them play together.  We couldn’t help but cry with the overwhelming knowledge that Eevee wasn’t coming back.  Even so, we were happy because that little kitten had taught us so much in the short time she had been with us.  

She gave us insight into how to become better people.  Sure it sounds crazy, but is it really?  When you stop and think about it, we usually miss lessons to be learned right in front of us.  Eevee helped us slow down and appreciate something that we never we could.  She gave us comfort, joy, and patience most of all.  That little ball of fur is missed, but I’m grateful I got to take away what I did from it.  

Kim and Khloe…  Aka “The KatDashians”

A feline with a Pokemon’s name: Part 1

  I’m not a cat person.  I have never been a cat person.  I never hated cats.  I just held a very strong disliking for them.  My reasoning behind this is a cat by the name of Samson.  My family acquired Samson when I was a child.  This cat was Satan embodied.  When you went to pet him, a hiss would emit from behind his gaping mouth that exposed his white fangs.  You couldn’t caress Samson and listen to his soft purrs like you do with other domesticated cats.  Instead, you always in fear of his claws lashing out at your outstretched hand.  My mother did the only humane thing a mother can do while trying to protect her children from a feline’s fury.  One night, she simply just let Samson outside and he didn’t come back.  Ever since, we always had dogs and I have always been a dog person.

Life moved on and dogs came and went.  I graduated high school and made it all the way until my junior year of college.  It was then that a woman stole my heart and I fell in love.  I married that woman in the summer of 2011 on the 11th day of June.  This is when my entire canine world came to an abrupt end.  Let me explain…  There comes a point in your marriage when the only viable option is to begin having children or, adopt a pet.  In our case, we unanimously agreed on going with the less expensive option.  Remember now, I am a dog person.  Naturally, I thought this decision would work perfectly and go over seamlessly. My chances were even raised seeing as how my wife had just purchased a book about raising a dog.  I went in for the kill.

  After much thought and consideration, about a minute or two worth, my wife came to the conclusion that she wasn’t so sure about a dog.  She began to explain to me after seeing the discerned look on my face that puppy’s chew furniture.  I was quick to counter her assumption with the fact that kittens claw furniture.  I was quickly directed to Wal-Mart’s online store to view cat trees.  Yes, a cat has its own scratching post made for it.  I tried arguing that a kitten would just cost more money in the long run.  After all, you had to buy it $20 post with a rope tied around it.  You also have to purchase a litter box and equipment to clean and refill the thing.  I stressed that even if we did get the post that the kitten would still probably sink it’s claws into the furniture.

My attempts to sway my wife’s thoughts were all thwarted.  Anyone who is in a relationship knows that the woman is always right anyhow.  Always.  Thus began the extensive researching into how to raise a cat, etc, etc.  We spent hours reading articles, purchasing food and toys, a litter box, a post, and a kitten book.  

Yeah, much cheaper…

After much kitten hunting, we found our new addition to the family at the local Veterinarian’s office.  Courtney’s work schedule conflicted with her being able to accompany me with picking up the kitten, so I ventured alone.  It worked out perfectly.  The man who has the rough past with a cat goes to pick one up.  Alone.  I entered into the vet’s office and inquired about the free kitten.  The woman smiled at me and told me to wait as she disappeared to the back.  My ears were greeted with the sounds of shrill meows as she turned the corner.  My nose was also greeted with a horrible stench.  Imagine that you’re in a small building and just before you had come through there, a cow had been there long enough to digest its lunch and left you a nice surprise.  I asked the woman if that was normal and I was informed that this kitten had been having a“slight” bowel problem and was handed some medicine.  I asked her, as I held my breath, if she could give her her first round of vaccinations and bathe her.  I was given a blank stare and told that she could do that.  For some reason, in that foul smelling moment, I felt for that kitten.  I know its common for a kitten’s mother to hold her by the skin behind her neck, but I didn’t like the Vet’s assistant way she did it.  I looked back as I said I would be back tomorrow morning and watched her disappear to the back room.

I phoned my wife, Courtney, and told her the news.  Her tone allured to some concern and I reassured her that it would be okay, the Vet has some medicine for us to give her.  I also told her how much I felt for the kitten and how sweet she was.  Yeah, I said sweet.  She lifted my concerns for her worry when I heard her reciprocate my tender feelings.  That always works with women too.  That night, we began trying to decide on a name for our new addition.  Courtney had some ideas, but I couldn’t think of anything.  We finally did the only sensible thing we could.  We googled kitten names.  The first name that popped up sent me into instant nostalgia.  

“Haha, Eevee!”  I exclaimed.

“Whats an Eevee?”  Asked Courtney.

“A Pokemon!”  I exclaimed.

“Thats cute!”

Thats decided it.  We were going to name our new addition after a character in the unnecessarily addictive and successful Gameboy game, Pokemon.  We went to bed that night anxiously anticipating when we would make our way to claim our fuzzy package.  It was even that more special since Courtney had called into work and gotten an extension to when she had to come in.  We arrived at the Vet’s office all smiles and told the assistant what we had come for.  

“One moment.”  She said.

As she made her way to back, Courtney expressed how much she hoped the smell was gone.  I agreed and something caught my attention.  I heard the sound of running water and that familiar meowing I had heard earlier.  I knew what she was doing.  She had waited until we had arrived to bathe the kitten.  This was just going to be great.  I then heard the woman comforting the kitten as she dried it off.  While we were waiting, the Vet gave us some medicine for the kitten’s stomach problem.  We were instructed to administer “Pepto Bismol” looking medicine via syringe every 6 hours.  We fervently shook our heads in understanding.  The assistant appeared shortly thereafter with our semi-wet, shaking, Eevee.  She still wreaked of that same stench.  This was only amplified by her now wet fur.  We thanked them and we were off.

Courtney was rightly concerned.  She began petting her and telling her she was okay as she meowed, meowed, and meowed some more.  We had almost made it home when it happened.  Courtney went to readjust Eeevee in her lap and noticed that she had left her a present on her pant leg.  Eeevee was suspended above Courtney’s lap for the rest of the trip.  We arrived home and got Eevee set up in her bathroom suite.  We made sure she was fed, watered, and comfortable before we left to perform our daily tasks.  All day we texted, emailed, and phoned each other expressing our theories on how she was holding up.  After what seemed like an eternity, we were both headed home to check on our new girl.

Courtney called me when she arrived.  She quieted my anxious questions about how our little girl was.  She informed me that she hadn’t seen her yet.  When I asked her why, she told me that before entering into the bedroom where the bathroom was located, you couldn’t even get close without gagging.  She told me it smelt like the smell we were greeted with when we first saw Eevee times ten.  I told her I would be home in ten minutes and I hung up the phone.  A lot of thoughts went through my head in those ten minutes.  I blamed myself for ever wanting a pet.  I felt bad for Courtney and wondered what could be going through her head.  Above all else, I was terrified to see the bathroom.  I pulled into the driveway and hesitated as long as I possibly could before heading inside.  Courtney was right.  You could smell the bathroom in the hallway.  We quickly doubled back and equipped ourselves with cleaning gloves, cleaning products, and the Swiffer mop.

“No matter what,” Courtney started, “don’t yell at her.  You don’t discipline cats by yelling.”

“I’m not gonna yell Court…”

That sounded like a good plan.  We entered the bathroom and horror befell both our eyes.  ”IT” was literally everywhere.  Eevee hadn’t discriminated against almost every square inch, she had only discriminated against her litter box when it got to full.  I grabbed the kitten up the same way the assistant had.  I was frustrated, but Courtney was outright steamrolled.  She stood on the bathroom counter and verbally expressed her grief.  I coaxed her to start cleaning up while I bathed the kitten.  Now, everyone knows cats hate the water.  Cats hate water even more when its running from a faucet and they are about to be immersed into it.  I received some lacerations from the futile attempts of Eevee trying to use my forearms as a tree.  I also lost the gloves due to gaping holes her claws created to their ruin.  I scrubbed, scrubbed, and scrubbed some more until I finally deemed her safe for roaming once more.  Once everything was cleaned and disinfected, we sat in the bathroom floor with our new kitten.  I had been super upset about this kitten.  I mean, who wouldn’t after that?  She had personally redecorated our entire bathroom floor.  Praise the Lord above from tile floors.  

I sat on the toilet seat looking on as Courtney spoke to her trying to calm her down after her traumatizing bath.  I was busy giving off deep sighs and wondering why I ever felt sorry for this dumb cat.  Then, something happened.  I flipped open my phone and began texting my parents the grisly details.  I looked up to give the kitten a disdaining glare when I saw this…

I instantly fell in love with that cat.  I know, I know, its just a cat.  Its true what they say: “Your first pet teaches you responsibility.”  I know this sounds ludicrous, but I had just went through my first experience learning how to care for something that was child like.  Yes, I had always had a little sister.  The difference here is that my mother took care of my sister and myself.  I didn’t have to clean up after her, bathe her, and tell her everything was going to be okay.  I felt a bond with that little kitten I hadn’t felt before in a pet.  She was ours to take care of and love on our own.  We were her mother and father she needed.  Little did I know, I was about to fall even deeper in the coming weeks…

     …To be continued…  

Stress comes with age?

Very rarely do I find myself having a melt down due to unwanted stressors.  That was until graduation started to rear its not so distant head up at me and it opened my eyes to an unforeseen experience.  These last few weeks have proved to bring that unwanted stress to my front door.  Its not that I’m anxious.  Its not that I’m worried about my grades.  Its not that Thanksgiving Break is about to take place either.  I just think, actually, that I’m getting old.

 -This is no way carries a negative connotation to those that are older than I am.-  

I just feel old.  I get up and go to the gym at 5 in the morning without crashing during the day, I make classes on time and more frequently, I handle more responsibilities than I ever thought I would at once, and my wife and i take care of two kittens that run the household.

Yes, I know.  Reading the things I just mentioned isn’t getting old, its growing up.  What  I failed to mention is that my hair is losing the battle with my scalp, I ache before and after it rains, I want to stay home on the weekends, and I certainly care less about wearing a t-shirt and sweat pants out in public.  Maybe the last thing doesn’t have to do with age or even stress.  Probably just my lack of care for others consideration about what my level of comfort should or should not be.

Nonetheless, this post is about stress(that rhymed) and how it is slowly becoming a factor as I age.  I know people use different methods of dealing with their stress.  They work out, relax, listen to music, read, etc.  I already do all of these things.  I can say that it does help relieve stress momentarily…  All the while, not helping in the long run.

Don’t get me wrong, I am in no way to the point of being that crazed stressed guy.  I just had a realization, an awakening if you will, that I’m 23 going on 30 and thats not far from 40.  I know my hair will lose this battle with my scalp.  I know my aches will only get more frequent and pop up in unexpected places.  I know that one day I may not can go out at all.  I also know that one day I may even be wearing those elastic waistband pants and that same ole flannel button up in the shadow of my walker, wheelchair, or power scooter.  Even though stress and age knock at my door and although with another year I become older, I still smile.  Because stress may come with age, but it comes and goes.  Knowledge and experiences come with age and they last.

That is until I get too old to remember that they do.