Skip to main content

I may have accidentally sort of adopted five cats

I may have accidentally 
Sort of 
Adopted five

 I kept looking at the texts from my sister, willing them to change. How could she have adopted any cats? We live in a tiny apartment that doesn't even allow pet fish. Words failing me, I simply said:

???

 I was expecting some grand and dramatic story about how she came across five abused cats and swooped in to rescue them. Surely, that had to be it. I needed some sort of heroic excuse if she was going to justify five cats.

Well
I was walking along

 Okay, so here it comes. And then she saw the saddest cats ever...right?

And I saw an animal shelter

 My brain whirred. I thought we had gotten rid of all the kill shelters in our city. Wasn't there some law passed about it? Had one shelter skirted it somehow? Surely it had to be a kill shelter she'd seen.

And there was this sad little kitten looking at me
And Jen
It only had one eye

 I did feel a twinge in my ever practical heart and said:
Oh Ava
That is very sad

 But before I could tell her while that wasn't enough of a reason she continued.

Right?!
So I went in just to hold the little kitten
Cause he looked like he needed some love and attention
But inside there were so many that needed that

 I had some sympathy for my sister's big heart, but animals in need of love was not a new issue. Although it seemed like following our lease was going to be very soon.

Ava
What
Did
You 
Do?

 I watched the three dots rise and fall on my screen as Ava was clearly typing and retyping a response.

Well I thought I was just signing something to be a volunteer

 I rolled my eyes. Ava was impulsive, yes, but she wasn't stupid.

Don't lie to me

 An almost sheepish pause passed before she replied.

Okay filled out paperwork to adopt the one eyed kitten

 When she didn't add anything to explain the other four cats she claimed to have adopted, I prompted:
And four others???

 Ava seemed to have gone away from her phone because I waited over fifteen minutes for a response.

I saw four others with injuries
This one is Bruiser
He's missing a leg

 Ava then had the audacity to send me a photo of a limping, elderly ginger tabby with big green eyes that gazed at the camera in awe. Dammit, Ava.

This is Summer
Her previous owner chopped off her tail
Can you even imagine the cruelty of that???

 And then Summer appeared on my phone. A lovely looking calico with a very short, stubby tail. I wanted to ask if Summer even liked people anymore, but Ava continued on.

This is Elphaba
They said they're not sure how she lost her ear
But it was probably another street cat

 A jet black cat appeared on my screen. Despite missing most of her left ear, she looked at the camera with an elegant calm. No, I told myself, we cannot have five cats.

Here is Dobby
He's the one eyed kitten I mentioned before

 Oh boy, Dobby did tug at my heart strings. He was a raggedy long haired grey cat and his one blue eye was almost comically large.

And then this is Franny
Her fur grows in weird patches
Probably because of something her previous owners did
But the shelter wasn't sure

 And there was the clumpily furred Franny who, despite only having patches of fur, was certainly a tuxedo cat. She did look rather sweet. I replied:
Okay
You got me
They're precious

 Ava texted back before I could finish.
I know right?!?!?!
We're cat moms now

I sighed. Ava was ever the idealist and I was ever the wet blanket.
Ava
We can't keep them
We can't even have a fish in our apartment

 So let's move

 Ava was all ready to give up our apartment for these five cats. And while I loved her for that, I knew we couldn't.
Or 
Ava
We could find better homes for them

 And until we can?

 I guess we're cat moms

(Prompt sent by Katie Durr)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

15 facts about my dad

Just been thinking about some lighthearted facts I know about my dad lately. When he was young, he had a goldfish named Lysander He introduced me to Star Trek At Christmas, he would tear up at It's a Wonderful Life He used to send me articles from his Yahoo email account that he thought I'd like We used to play a game called "Nightmare" where he would lie down and we'd jump around (and sometimes on) him He would clip possible recipes for us to try out of newspapers and magazines We bought him a Paddington Bear to take on trips because we feared he'd be lonely and he always took it He had teddy bears for three different holidays We once had such a hilariously difficult time building a gingerbread house that when some frosting ended up on the counter, I plopped a gumdrop on it and we laughed until we cried He and his sister were born about 11 months apart We would try recipes from Top Chef He kept gifts I made him, even when they weren't great At Christmas, ...
Post a Comment
Read more

15 things you'll think about during your dad's latest hospital stay

This is meant to be a related piece to "15 things to do in your dad's hospital room," "15 Things You Find in Your Dad's Hospice Room," and "15 Things You Find When You Clean Out Your Dad’s Apartment" .  The Christmas lights at the nurse's station that should really have been switched for saccharine cupids by now What team decided to hang up a clearly labeled DRAFT safety sign Who comes up with the aliases they seem to use for trauma patients and how they decided on Redstone for your dad That his skin either looks like a bruised elephant or like sickeningly conflicting colors of thin paper mache Where you can possibly get food--you're shaky The patient in the ER somewhere with a lot of ammo, but no gun, or so they say Why the staff is being so happily loud and swearing...it feels discordant The used bandaid and gauze that are left on the floor of his ER room as he moves to his hospital room...the last proof he was there Having to do this a...
Post a Comment
Read more

15 things to do in your dad's hospital room

This is meant to be a related piece to  "15 Things You Find in Your Dad's Hospice Room" and "15 Things You Find When You Clean Out Your Dad’s Apartment" . Tell yourself you can panic later (you'll likely never find the time to, but it'll help) Wear a mask because he's immunocompromised (and besides, you've been out trying to live a life which means you could've caught something) Turn on the Olympics because he can't use a remote anymore and no one has helped him (besides, it's always on these days and he at least used to enjoy it) Practice your sanitized answers to his questions (he won't remember them, but no need to alarm him about in his life, your life, or the world for even a moment) Try not to be in the way of the nurses (you'll fail) Sit on the bed because there is no where else to (and realize your arm is resting against his urine jug) Worry that his bed should be alarmed when he gets up to go to the bathroom (he make...
Post a Comment
Read more