Okay, this is gonna be a tough one, so I'm asking you to bear with me. Feel free to chime in.
I'm thinking about getting a companion cat for Little Girl.
Reactions to that have ranged from, "That's fantastic!", to "That's a terrible idea!"
So I don't know what to do.
She misses her brother terribly. I KNOW that another cat would not replace her brother, but it would be someone to keep her company. She already tags around after the other neighborhood cats, looking for someone to be her friend.
Honestly? I want another cat, as well. I miss her brother. I miss how damn friendly he was to me.
Ever since he died, Little Girl and I have been rattling around the house like a couple of ghosts. I think we need another cat. And I'd like to get another one sooner rather than later, before Little Girl forgets how to share and play nice.
But. The people in the "terrible idea" camp think it would put too much stress on Little Girl.
I don't know if another cat would stress her out, but I do know this: I'm not going to put limits on Little Girl just because of her disease. She still hunts, and runs, and plays, and chases after the other neighborhood cats, and that's as it should be.
I keep coming back to that old movie, "Mask", where Cher is the mother of a pretty severely physically disabled son. She takes her boy to yet another doctor's appointment, where she gets yet another grim prognosis, and she explodes, saying, "If I had dug this kid's grave every time some new doctor said he was gonna die, I'd be halfway to Chop Suey, China by now."
So yeah. No Chop Suey for us. Little Girl is going to do everything she wants to do. I am going to try to ensure that her life is as happy and complete as possible. Now I just have to figure out if that includes having another cat around.
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11 comments:
I say go for it. Life's too short to hem and haw on stuff like this.
Do it! In every decision we make in life, from the seemingly mundane to the Big Stuff, there will always be people on each side of the fence. You have to do what feels right for you and Little Girl and you have to remember that when people give their opinions, they are projecting what they would for themselves if they were in that position.
I've read what you have said, here and in other posts, and see how much you love taking care of animals and receiving the love and joy they give in return, and I think for YOU, it's the right thing. It's you, your life and ultimately, your decision.
Yup, I say go for it if that's what you want to do. Other folks' opinions don't really count in the long run!
I think you answered your own question. :)
Thanks for your input, guys.
You know, it's just ... I had to make a judgement call with The Runt, and I made the wrong decision. So now, in this situation, I don't know what decision would be the RIGHT decision ... I'm afraid of making the wrong call. Again.
Well, all I can say is that even though numerous friends and readers of yours of have said that you should NOT blame yourself for what happened to The Runt, you still do. I think, and it really doesn't matter what I think in the long run of things, that no matter what you decide to do about this, you are still going to find some thing to blame yourself about. And you shouldn't be blaming yourself over any thing concerning this.
I say go for it as well. You're not trying to replace anybody; you're just trying to give another cat a nice home.
BNG, I don't think of it as taking blame; I'm just taking responsibility for a decision I made.
And Kate, yeah, there's SO MANY cats in the local shelters that need homes. It's overwhelming. Why people are STILL not spaying/neutering their pets mystifies me.
Taking responsibility for some thing is owning it, and letting it go. You are blaming yourself, beating yourself up time and time again over some thing that was out of your hands, and THIS situation with The Runt was out of your hands, whether you can see that right now or not.
GOD, BNG, I'm TRYING to have a pity party over here. Sheesh.
(snapping your underwear), there will be none of that! Either way though, I have faith in you.
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