Mtl_Biker
Active Member
If anyone had asked me 3-4 years ago if I'd ever have a cat, the answer would have been a resounding NO! I was a dog lover. Even though I hadn't had a dog for many years now. I would NEVER have a cat!Growing up with a significant family, my great grandmother (born in the 1800's and lived to be 109) always had stories from life to tell. She went to work at the age of 12 in a coat factory... I digress... anyway from my earliest years she pretty much raised us to dislike cats. Really to never trust a cat. She told a story of how her baby's breath was stolen by a cat. The baby died in it's crib and there was a cat on the windowsill at the time. She really believed this old wives' tale and there was no challenging it. We know today that babies die of SIDS, but in her day people believed what they had to. Kind of like we believe the torque numbers of ebike manufactures
The distrust of cats never completely went away for me. When I was 20 I had a roommate with a really nice, lovable cat. I ~liked the cat, buy never fully trusted it. Nature vs nurture.
I enjoyed reading your account of life with your pets. Good for you getting past your dislike. I've had many, many dogs in my life and I'm currently struggling with a decision today about my rough collie who has cancer.
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I was going to tell about how I got my first cat, Boris, but the story would end up being too long. But the bottom line is that I did get him and he totally changed my opinion of cats. It was amazing. And to this day, three years later, he still follows me around, jumps in my lap, purrs, wants to be around me. I could tell you stories.
Anyway, I got my forth cat (all were from the SPCA) knowing she only had about 4-6 months to live. (Another long story.) But I thought she'd be better with me than living the rest of her life in a cage or being euthanized. And I thought I would be able to be tough and would be able to handle her eventual death. She lasted 7 months, but during that time she was really happy, and in my strong belief, very grateful to me for having given her a loving home. When she died, I was not tough at all. I cried like a baby. It was very difficult. And afterwards I was sitting outside at home, drinking too much and still crying, when Rambo appeared out of nowhere. It was weird. And then it took an additional month before a neighbor caught him. And I've now had him since November. As I said earlier, he's extremely affectionate, but wants to be the one and only cat in the family. And trying all the suggested methods to get the cats to get along, he and Boris keep fighting. So badly that there's torn skin and blood. So that's why I'm trying to keep them separated and take Rambo to work with me.
I've probably talked too much about this stuff but I wanted you to know that I understand the pain you must be going through with your Collie. And I feel for you.
I wish you the best.
