I have always been fairly permissve when it comes to pets in our house. The way I see it is that at least the kids aren't asking for some high ticket items, such as electronics, video games, etc. My kids love pets, Alissa especially. Our repetoire of pets has included:
1. Hermit Crabs - several over the years, all deceased.
2. Fish of various kinds, currently guppies that I hope will die off soon. (that sounds so sinister)
3. Fire bellied toads, which unfortunately had to eat live crickets. Their names were Mushroom and Olive. Our next one would have been named Pepperoni. Olive escaped after a year or so, and sadly, Mushroom died this summer. I don't miss buying crickets.
4. Fancy Mice - yes, mice. We have two girl mice, Nutmeg and Starlight, who surprisingly are very easy to take care of, and actually very cute! They also don't eat live prey.
5. Cat - We have a tortiseshell cat, named Madeline. Madeline loves watching the mice. She is a persnickety creature, with her definite likes and dislikes. Madeline believes that we live in the house which she owns.
So, when Alissa told me she was interested in having a budgie (aka parakeet) for Christmas, I started to do my research. After researching them, and alleviating my impending guilt about causing our cat post traumatic stress disorder from owning mice AND a bird, I set out on a mission.
Thinking that I should rescue a homeless bird, I went to the SPCA, where they had some very cute, but VERY WILD, noisy, crazy parakeets. Oh, they were also incredibly messy and didn't want to be handled. My idyllic fantasies of having a little bird for my daughter were squelched, then and there. I knew it wouldn't work. As I'm leaving the SPCA, something caught my eye. Something I've always wanted but hubby didn't want. Then again, he didn't want the first one, but he lost that battle. A connection was made. A subsequent phone call was made, to find that in fact my hubby is more flexible than I thought. I fell in love, and the feeling was mutual. Could you have resisted this?
Neither could I. Can I just say what a sweet cat she is? She is the polar opposite of Madeline. At this moment, this new creature is living in Alissa's room until everyone is able to make nice and get along. The initial hissing and growling is winding down. Anyway, the cat is so sweet and calming I thought of the perfect name for her...
Xanax.
Why not? She is small, white, cute, and has a very calming effect on me.
After much pondering, I decided this would be inappropriate for my children. But in my perfect world, I would own two cats. Prozac and Xanax.
Her real name? Ellie. It fits her perfectly. Wish me luck on the impending kitty introductions. if anyone has advice on this, I'm all ears.
5 comments:
Oh Deb! I just love her!!!! She looks like she could be Boston's sister. What a cutie pie.
Okay, so now, on with introducing her to the other cat. Be patient and let them adjust at their own pace. If you have a door in the house that doesn't reach right to the floor, put them in rooms on either side of the door and let them smell each other under the crack.
Maybe they'll start to play or maybe they'll just ignore each other. Hopefully they'll fall in love like my two cats did.
I'll let you know it can be a trying process, one which had me CRYING my eyes out for about three days. But now, I have nothing but love in the feline sector of my house!
So adorable! :)
Awww she looks very sweet. She could almost be Henry's sister. Yeah, Henry, he's still here, I guess he's staying.
aaaaaaaaawwwww, I LOVE Xanax!
er, I mean Ellie.
I've never had a cat so no advice. I like Xanax though! Sassy!
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