problems – Sir Socks Le Chat

This wasn’t my idea. I know now it wasn’t my girl’s idea either. It was her mother’s. That woman wouldn’t let Spot or me into house until after we had our foreclaws removed. It was major surgery. Not a pleasant thing. I was already a middle aged cat at the time. I don’t remember the surgery, which is probably a good thing.

My girl believes removing a cat’s foreclaws is a form of mutilation. She is correct. We are maimed for the rest of our lives. Yet, too many humans think it’s a good thing to do. What they mean is they think we cats are objects who shouldn’t mess up their immaculate furniture, which is more important than having someone who will love you unconditionally. I’m glad my girl loves me more than she cares about how her furniture looks.

The vets and vet techs were good to both of us. We were both unconscious during the operations. They put a mask over my face and then I was out. I woke up later in a cage unsure of what was going to happen next. I was groggy and don’t remember much of anything else. That is until my girl was there and happy to see us both. She sat in the back seat of the car with Spot and me in our carriers.

Spot yelled and used terrible language to all the humans in the car. I was so scared that sadly I lost bladder control. My girl knew it happened and didn’t give me a hard time. It was quite embarrassing. Of course, he couldn’t stop complaining loudly and angrily about being trapped in a cage as I was too.

She took us upstairs to her room and closed the door before letting us out. I, of course, found a place to hide. Spot went exploring like the crazy bottle fed half human raised cat that he is. My girl seemed more relaxed. I sensed she had missed us overnight.

It didn’t take me long to find our things. The litter was different to help our paws to heal up. She told us don’t worry about it, she would clean it up. Just use the box. Spot used it first and true to her word, my girl cleaned up immediately. Then I used the new litter too.

I do remember what happened afterwards in the house more clearly. I’m lucky my girl was there when one of my paws starting bleeding. I was sitting on the back of the couch at the time. And to my surprise, I fell into the blinds. I wasn’t expecting it. I tried to use my foreclaws forgetting they were now gone.

I was so startled that I ran up the stairs and into our room. My girl noticed the blood and without any warning, she scooped me up and grabbed a washcloth. She took me into the bathroom and closed the door. She got the washcloth wet and wrapped it around my paw. She held me on her lap and talked to me.

I was scared. But she was comforting me. I didn’t want to be trapped in such a small room, but she wouldn’t let me go. She was firm, but gentle with me. She told me she was worried because my paw was bleeding. She said it was bad and tried to get it to stop. Eventually, it did. She let me go and cleaned up the blood I had trailed around the house.

She covered for me and kept me out of the hospital. So, I didn’t complain after that. She had taken care of me once again. What would I have done without her? I don’t know. I think I would have just hidden away until my paw stopped bleeding on its own.

I also remember jumping on top of the stereo cabinet. I slid towards the mantle over the fireplace. At that time I didn’t understand what was happening. I was always such a good jumper. Even my girl had noticed and told me so. She’s seen me do it quite often and was impressed by my skills. Yet, here I was sliding. It was because I didn’t have foreclaws to use as stop moving after a jump.

My girl and the blind guy tried to encourage me and keep me calm. Her mother didn’t want me to jump on any of the furniture. I don’t know where she got such notions. It’s what we cats do. The blind guy and my girl understood that kind of cat behavior. Why couldn’t my girl’s mother understand too?

I guess the woman thought she could control everything and everyone around her. Well, I hope she’s learned by now, she can’t control cats or even my girl. I’m glad my girl never took that attitude towards cats or anyone else for that matter. It’s just one of the many things which makes me love my girl all the more.

It’s time for a confession from me. As you know from the previous chapter, I didn’t like the kitten when I had first met him. He drove me absolutely crazy. Eventually, I got used to him as I had gotten used to my girl and the fairies. But it wasn’t a gradual thing. In fact, I did something which hurt my girl very much. I ran off. I left our home and went to live outside for a little while.

I was that mad about the kitten. I couldn’t stand to be there anymore. And, well, it was time for the kitten to grow up and be on his own. I was that fed up. So, I went outside and decided I didn’t want to go back and live with my girl or the kitten anymore. I didn’t care how cold it was. I didn’t care if it would snow. Not that snow was very likely where we were. There wasn’t even grass growing in the area. Mostly just dirt.

It was easy to get out. By then, there were times when my girl would let us out or even take us out for walks. We were never outside for long. But it was good to go out. I think my girl understood that. She just wouldn’t let me out until I had learned this was my home now.

I wasn’t that far away from our apartment. My girl came out to beg and plead with me to come home. I refused at first. But there was something in her voice that touched me. She kept begging and telling me how much she missed me. I realized then how much she loved me. I began to see how much it hurt her for me to refuse to live with her.

*Sigh.* She is a whirlwind, but she is a kind and loving person. She’s as devoted to me as I am to her. She is the one I knew I wanted to be with. She had proven it to me that she was the right caregiver and caretaker for me. I just had to accept her silliness and playfulness. She is exactly what I need in my life. Even when she’s driving me crazy.

So, I went back home with her. I also didn’t tend to go outside much after that. I knew how good I had it with her as an indoor cat. I decided to stay in spite of the kitten and her silliness.

So, why did I leave in the first place? I needed a break. Raising a kitten is hard work. I was beginning to understand why my mother had left us when she did. Perhaps we had become too much for her? The kitten could take care of himself at that point. So, it wasn’t as if I needed to stick around anymore.

I had taught him all I knew for five weeks. There wasn’t more I could teach him after that. Perhaps some fine tuning or tell him more about my brother Spitter or the little bits I remembered about Inky and Paintbrush. There wasn’t much point in me talking about my girl. Spot already knew her fairly well.

But then again, I didn’t have to act like my mother. I could go back to someone who loved me and took good care of me. I could also go back to someone who looked up to me. So, in the end I went home. I was loved, adored, and admired for once in my life. I didn’t have to be like my mother. I could do what she didn’t do for me for this kitten.

I’m glad I went back even though they are both too silly for me. At least we all loved each other and were willing to get along. That’s what it means to have a real family. We love each other unconditionally no matter how much we drive each other crazy. We have each other’s backs in tough times. We aren’t willing to give up on each other. We help each other, even if all we can do if to give moral support.

There were times when we would take turns hitting each other. Not hard. Just hard enough to get the point across. The easy and simple way to tell someone else, “You are annoying me.” It wasn’t to hurt each other. We were just venting. It was how we are able to get along for as long as we are together.

I don’t regret having a family. They mean the world to me. Having a family of my own after I had lost my biological relatives wasn’t something I ever expected to find again. And it’s all thanks to the whirlwind known as my girl. It’s all her fault and she knows it.

Tag: problems

Losing My Foreclaws

Running Away