Pets B.K.

B.K. - Before Kids.

Yep, we're on of those families that has pets, who were with us long before the kids. And there was a day, many of you know, that my pets (two cats) were my pride and joy. Despite the fact that Gus used to pee all over the house and run around with poop attached to his butt, I loved him dearly. His funny antics (jumping on door jambs, fetching toys, sleeping under the covers, acting like a dog) far outweighed his bad habits and I was totally fine with that. His twin sister Maggie was always the angel cat. She was so sweet & loving, but never came around much. A bit skittish except with us.

Fast forward 12 years to now. There are days I want to WRING.THEIR.NECKS! There are days I understand pet abusers. Since the babies were born & came home, both cats are with us EVERYWHERE WE GO. They don't miss a beat. It's like they are keeping watch over me and the kids to be sure everyone is ok. When the kids cry, they cry (and boy is that fun, 2 crying kids and 2 meowing cats). I can't tell you how many times I've almost killed myself (and a kid) by tripping over them while one of them gets under foot following us around the house or down the stairs.

Every morning, the household starts stirring around 4:30 am. But it's not the humans that are stirring, it's the furry ones. They usually start trying to wake me up to eat by that time with their various tricks - sometimes it's jumping up on the dresser and knocking things to the floor, or walking on my head, or meowing so loud the neighbors can hear, or scratching (they are declawed so it's more like noise making) on the door and furniture. They also have figured out how to wrap on the armoire doors so that they rattle very loudly. Most recently, since they think they are "in charge" of the babies, they will scratch on THEIR doors, knowing it will wake them up and they will cry, hence waking ME up. Unfortunately for me, the light sleeper that I am, I hear these antics starting and immediately wake up to feed them so they will stop trying to wake the kids up.

My fault. Can't teach an old cat new tricks right? So, the last few days have been exceptionally trying - considering that we don't really need any more chaos added to our already chaotic household, Gus never ceases to amaze me. Let me preface this with the fact that Gus, the male cat, is crazy. Really. He's crazy and used to have to take prozac daily. I stopped his meds when I had two premature babies that required much more medical attention and he's been fine since. But I think he's digressed. He used to be afraid of his own poop. I think his fear has returned. It's like a kid when they are potty training. He turns around and looks at it and runs for his life. And sometimes he starts running before the poop is all the way out. Hence, it drops off along his path as he's running. Nice.

So a couple of days ago, he started this again. I knew by the way he was running that he had realized this fear again. I followed him around and picked up his little droppings along the way. This is a particular problem now since the kids are mobile and ANYTHING on the floor goes immediately to the mouth. I'm so paranoid about this it's making me lose sleep. So yesterday, the kids and I are eating dinner at the dining room table (Cole puked up his morning breakfast and it hit every crevice in the high chair so his high chair was out of commission being cleaned, hence a booster at the real table) and this lunatic cat gets up on the other end of the table. Within seconds, he's doing that cat throw up thing - where he lurches forward making a horrible choking sound (any of you with cats knows exactly what I'm talking about). I proceed to yell at him to get down from the table but he doesn't listen. And I wasn't sure I could pick up a puking cat? As I'm screaming, the kids are laughing and carrying on watching him because the cats are their latest fascination. Gus proceeds to lurch and convulse for the next 10-15 seconds before he LAUNCHES a huge hairball onto the floor. It must have flew 3 feet...DISGUSTING. Nevermind that I feed them "special" cat food that is supposed to take care of this hairball problem. I think their food is slightly more expensive than the formula I used to feed my kids. I guess I should reconsider that food because obviously they would be the same on the cheap stuff since hairballs haven't slowed down at all...

I do love my cats. And they love us. All they want is more attention, which sadly, I don't have the time to give them anymore. I will miss them someday when they aren't with us. But dear God, they are causing me more stress and sleep loss than my own children these days! Every single day it's a new thing. They are so high maintenance, it's killing me. Don't I deal with enough poop and puke with two babies, much less adding a cat to the daily clean up regimen? I had the mobile pet vet out a few weeks ago (because they are such maniac's I cannot take them to the vet any longer) and they are healthy as healthy gets. For 12 year old mut cats, they are doing great. That means they will be around for a while longer. I know, it's like anything else, savor the days, you'll miss them when they're gone. As long as we have a 3 ring circus going, might as well add two looney cats to the mix right? Sure keeps the days interesting...Thank God they love my kids, or we might have real trouble!