The Accidental Cat Lover

In early July of this year, the heat was unbearable and I had been keeping my cat, Izzy, inside more often. One night I put her out but she didn't show up for her breakfast in the morning as usual. By the 6th day of her absence, I was panicked. I had a mini-breakdown when my husband dared to say to me, "Well, Honey, she is an old cat. I don't think she's coming home." Suddenly Izzy was my beloved cat and how awful for him to say she is dead and never coming home! I couldn't bear the thought! I cried myself to sleep worrying about her thirsting to death and lying helpless under a porch somewhere. My husband slept on the couch.

Anyone who knows me knows that I hate cats! Dogs, I love. Cats, I despise! I thought it unfortunate that my husband chose to bring me a kitten ten years ago after we'd had a massive disagreement. He had come home from a trip to Miami and claimed the mother cat had been "eaten by an alligator" (we lived in South Florida) and the poor thing needed a home. That night, he and the cat slept on the couch together.

For many years I have tolerated this black-haired, green-eyed cat we named Izzy. She has some behaviors I find annoying, like pawing and clawing the spot where she intends to lay, which is typically on MY lap or stomach. I thought it particularly obnoxious that she gravitated to me when I was the one person in the house who glared at her. My son loved her and wanted her to love him, but she merely tolerated him carrying her around like a sack of potatoes. My husband reminded me on a regular basis that her mother had been eaten by an alligator and we should love her. I glared at him, too.

I berated Izzy to anyone who would listen. "She is a weird cat, who has lazy tendencies and appears to be a bit on the mental side." And, "she is not at all clean! She sheds clumps of hair all over the place and licks herself raw!" Her presence in my house was a constant thorn in my side. Dogs are loyal companions, bark at strangers, come when you call and look at you with adoring eyes no matter what you've just muttered under your breath. Dogs are useful!

As Izzy got older, she developed a skin condition that causes clumps of her hair to fall out in the summertime so that she is very nearly bald by August. She also developed food allergies so that she hacks up her food regularly. I've tried changing her diet and keeping the fleas at bay, but nothing stops the mass exodus of her hair. In fact, she resembles Bill the Cat.

Now, I could have left her in Florida when we moved and no one would have been the wiser. I could have mumbled some vague untruth about her escaping from my grasp on moving day. Instead, I gave her a heavy sedative and drove her 550 miles to our new home. I was sorry though when the drug wore off and she started howling in the back seat. I stopped at a Rest Area on I-75 and seriously considered opening the door and pushing her out! I didn't.

After we reached our new house, I kept hoping she would try to find her way back to our old home in Florida because I heard cats do that sometimes. She didn't. She laid on every outdoor chair we have - leaving a body print of herself for good measure. I was stuck with her.

Today, it's been three weeks since her assumed demise and I was thinking that it's nice not having cat hair congregating in all the corners of the house. I was checking on my garden around mid-day when I heard a familiar "ik, ik" on the other side of the fence in my neighbor's yard. I looked around and my eyes landed on a pair of large, green eyes staring back at me through the bushes.

I said,"Izzy?" She "ik-ik"ed, then "YOWWW"-ed at me more vigorously and, I thought, 'I'll be darned, it's my Izzy!' I went around the fence calling to her and she ran to me like she was as surprised as I was. I carried her into the house and was grateful I had not given away her food. She was terribly skinny and in need of a good meal. There were no indications on her about where she'd been all this time. It's a complete mystery as to what happened to her. But, she seemed happy to be home and spent the day stabbing everyone's laps with her nails and cleaning herself in her ill-mannered way.

I just smiled and thanked God to have her home. Tonight no one is sleeping on the couch, Izzy may get to sleep on the foot of my bed. Perhaps, I am an accidental cat lover.