Eleven years ago today, I adopted my cat, Tigger, who was then 3 years old. (Getting him was my Valentine’s present to myself, two years before I met my husband.) One month ago today, Tigger had a stroke; he died the next day. Although I am very grateful to spend Valentine’s Day with my husband and 3 young children, it is bittersweet because I still miss my first ‘baby.’ The ache in my heart at Tigger’s death is not as sharp as it was a couple of weeks ago, but it is there nonetheless. I can’t imagine the pain of losing a spouse or a child.
My children miss Tigger, too. The oldest becomes very quiet when he thinks about Tigger, and when he sees another cat, he becomes quiet for a while. The middle one sleeps with a photo of Tigger under his pillow. (It’s been a few days since he asked me, “When is Tigger coming back? Can we go up to Heaven to see Tigger? Why did Tigger die?”) The youngest sleeps with a plush cat that looks so much like Tigger that he could have been the model for it, and gets upset if she wakes up and can’t find it.
Yesterday, after I picked up the boys from their weekly overnight visit to their grandparents’, we went to the Humane League and walked around, looking at the cats. The League currently has a promotion in honor of Mardi Gras, known around here as “Fat Tuesday,” to help some of their fat cats find homes. It’s waiving the adoption fee for any cat who weighs more than 10 pounds. I had already searched the list of available cats on the League’s website, and had seen 3 cats with the same color of fur – mostly orange with white trim – as Tigger, along with a few other qualities that I’d like in another cat. Although in general I love all cats, I am especially partial to orange or buff-colored male cats. Tigger was orange, and my childhood cat, Cinnamon, was more buff-colored. While the boys looked at the cats in general, I was looking for those 3 cats. One wasn’t there (but is still listed as available on the website, so I think that he was at another site for the day), the second was sleeping—as were most of the cats–so I didn’t get the chance to interact with him, but the third was awake, and responded to me when I talked to him. The two that I found are over 10 pounds, so adopting one of them would be free, effectively, since they are both neutered and up-to-date with routine shots, and we have litter, cat food, and bowls. (The only cost would be for a new litter box; I don’t like the idea of using the same one from Tigger.) The one that was awake is even already front-declawed, which would be a bonus, considering how my kids love to pet a cat, often a little more than the cat desires.
Unfortunately, we couldn’t stay, as it was late in the day, and I needed to make a stop at the store before going home, so I didn’t get to interact with that cat as much as I would have liked, and of course we didn’t leave with a cat, although if it were my decision alone, we definitely would have! Today I really, Really, REALLY wanted to go adopt another cat, to fill the hole in my heart and the emptiness in our home, and to continue the tradition of adopting a cat on Valentine’s Day, but my husband is against the idea. He does have a few valid points—we plan to remodel our empty bedroom this Spring, and move the boys into that larger room, allowing us to move the 2 year old from our room into her own (not soon enough!), and why subject a cat to that noise, confusion, and mess?–but why should his one ‘no’ vote count more than the four ‘yes’ votes of the rest of the family?
The Humane League’s Mardi Gras ‘celebration’ continues until Friday the 19th, so I have less than a full week to convince my husband to say yes to getting another cat soon. Maybe if he likes his Valentine’s present enough, he’ll say yes to getting another cat. That would be a great Valentine’s, Mother’s Day, and birthday present to me!
