I got Chloe three years ago and we’ve been inseparable ever since. I was struggling with my mental health and I decided that a companion would be a good thing for me.
This is really helpful when struggling with mental illness, but that’s not what this story is about, so moving on...
Since we depend on each other so much it's no surprise that Chloe has really bad separation anxiety. She doesn't eat if she knows we're leaving, she shakes, she has scratched up baseboards, chewed up our blinds and just about every other bad thing you can imagine.
We tried a lot of things to help with the anxiety, ranging from a compression shirt to me doing morning work routines on weekends to teach her that every time I do my hair it's not the end of the world. With little to no success, I knew I had to do something to make her happier and control her anxiety.
I had wanted another dog for some time and I thought maybe having another animal around would help Chloe. The only thing is dogs are a lot of money and work and I didn't think I had the time to train another dog. So the idea of getting a cat popped into my head.
I was allergic to cats when I was younger so first I had to figure out if I still had allergies. I started going to the local cat shelter every weekend to test this. I started by going, but not actually petting any of the cats, just being around them. With a few successful visits I began petting and playing with them. Before long I was holding and cuddling them. Now let me tell you, I'm a dog person and I always have been so holding these cats was very foreign. They were much different than dogs and I wasn't immediately sure what they wanted from me.
On one of my visits I saw this beautiful cat. She was very playful, and more importantly sociable. I really liked that cat, but my boyfriend wasn't with me at the time to discuss adopting her. I went home told him about her and asked him to come back with me to meet her. Unfortunately, the earliest we'd be able to get back was the next weekend. I was sure that a cat with such beautiful markings and personality would be gone quickly.
The next weekend when we came back, lo and behold the cat was still there! @curtiscolwell met her and agreed that she was a really nice cat and would get along with Chloe. We decided to talk to a worker about adoption. While waiting for a staff member a volunteer told us that this cat had medical issues and has been in the shelter for 3 months, but no one wanted to adopt her. Unfortunately, if the animal has a lot of medical conditions and can't find a home they would have to put her down.
It was then that I knew that this was my cat, she was coming home with me. The staff member came and explained to us that the cat was blind in both eyes, due to trauma, and that she had a mass in her nose that was currently noncancerous. This is when everyone got scared about the financial burden of such a 'broken' cat. Plus, why get a broken one when there's so many perfectly good ones around.
I knew I had to take this pretty kitty home. If I didn't take her who would? Who would give this cat the life she deserves? That day we took home our first cat.
She doesn't like being petted much nor does she need a lot of affection, which was weird for me since I was use to dogs. It took some time for us to get use to each other and figure out what the other liked, but now we're happy as can be.
I went away for the weekend and when I got back I was really tired so I got in bed right away. Lilah came into the bedroom, hopped on the bed and laid right on my chest. She doesn't always like to admit it, but she loves me ;)
She also loves her sister, which is the greatest thing I could have asked for. When Chloe leaves the house to be walked Lilah meows loudly until Chloe returns. They love playing with and chasing each other. We are so happy that she has become part of our little family and we couldn't ask for a better kitty :)
