Adventures in feline care

 

What was I thinking???

 

Well, the answer to that question is easy - I wasn't.  I found this adorable little 10 week old kitten (now called Scout) crying pitifully (and loudly) near my house last Thursday, and when I learned she was abandoned all I knew was I couldn't just leave her out in the rain.  So I took her home, got her groomed to take care of the fleas, and promptly didn't think of much else until later. 

 

Stuff I should have thought about sooner includes:

• The cost of the vet bill for deworming, vaccinations, and disease testing, plus deworming for Atticus just in case (because Scout did indeed have worms).  FYI - it was A LOT.  And she still needs to be spayed.
• Atticus's response to Scout having free reign of the house.  I should have kept them separated from day one.  My well-adjusted, happy boy has turned into a surly old man in just a couple of days.  He paces the house, holes up alone, and bops her on the head, hisses, and/or runs away whenever she tries to play with him.
• The amount of effort it takes to keep a baby kitten from destroying my stuff, out of Atticus's litter box and food dishes (and him out of hers), as well as the energy it takes to keep her entertained and happy.  I thought having two cats would be marginally more work than one.  Yeah, not so.  And generally I just feel like if I'm keeping one of them happy then I'm neglecting the other one, and I feel guilty.
• Just feeding them is a pain!  I moved Atticus's dishes from the kitchen because that's where I block Scout off from the rest of the house.  So now he gets confused about where to eat at every meal, and she follows me whenever I have food in my hands, which scares him off from eating, which has totally thrown off his feeding schedule.  (Luckily he needs to lose a little weight anyway.)
• How much space we actually need to accommodate another cat, and how little space we actually have.

Overall it has been a somewhat stressful experience, punctuated by some cute moments and a few big laughs.  Hubs and I have decided to give it a couple of weeks to see how we all adjust before we commit to keeping Scout.  The good thing is she's young and really, really cute, so it shouldn't be any trouble finding her a good home if we can't keep her.  I've already had a couple of friends express interest, though it would be super nice if one of them was able to split the cost of the vet bills with us!  Seriously, I had no idea that it's much cheaper to adopt a kitten through a reputable group than to rescue one yourself.  They must get deep discounts on medical care.

 

So that's been my life for the past 4 days now.  This weekend I hit the halfway point in my pregnancy and things still seem to be fine.  Nothing much else to tell about that.  Well except that I'm finally going to go buy some maternity pants today.  I've been using a belly band with my regular jeans unzipped up until now, and it's starting to get annoying, so I figured it was about time.  I still have people tell me I don't look pregnant, to which I sarcastically respond, "Thanks, I guess that means I just look fat."  Just kidding, I don't really say that.  I just congratulate myself on my good genes and figure they're jealous bitches that I can be this far along and still order a beer without the bartender looking at me funny.  Okay I don't do either of those things either.  Sorry, I think my emotions are on overdrive lately.  I think it's time to get out of the house!

In with the in-crowd

Thanksgiving turned out to be pretty nice.  Dad was civil enough, albeit more quiet than usual, and everyone else was great.  We had dinner with my family at my sister's house and it was DE-LISH.  I ate a nice big plateful of food, followed by a little piece of pumpkin dump cake, and then we were off to my in-laws' for dessert.  They were just putting dinner away so I got myself a second plate (good thing I saved room at my sister's!), and then had myself a sampler platter of desserts to top it all off.  I don't think I've ever eaten that much on Thanksgiving, and it was AWESOME.  Mmm... now I can't wait for Christmas dinner!

So this holiday was my first experience getting a whole lot of attention for doing pretty much nothing (i.e. being knocked up).  As usual, there were a ton of people at my in-laws' house.  Hubs said there were around 35 people but I think it was more like 50, and I couldn't go from one room to another without people stopping me to congratulate me and ask about the pregnancy.  I have to say it was a little awkward!  Nice for sure, but definitely kind of awkward.

It's also been interesting to note the difference in the amount of interest some people take in me - like we finally have something in common they can talk to me about.  Now that I'm pregnant I'm included in more conversations about parenting and family type stuff, and when I voice an opinion about such things those people don't automatically dismiss me.  Do I have any more parenting experience now than I did last year?  Of course not!  But I'm going to be a parent now so I guess that means my opinions somehow hold a little weight.

Looking back on previous family gatherings it's such a noticeable difference that it's almost funny.  Those things people say about parenthood being a kind of exclusive club really are true.  I definitely feel more accepted, people are less awkward around me (even though I feel more awkward) - it's like I've joined the human race.  And that thought makes me really sad about the way anyone who doesn't quite fit in is sometimes treated.  I don't think family members (at least my family members) mean to exclude anyone, but most of them don't try particularly hard to make them feel accepted and included either.  It's just a lot easier when you have that most common of all common bonds - reproduction - working in your favor.  But it makes me want to be the person who puts in the extra effort to make everyone feel included.  I hope I can do that at least once or twice.

Now we enter the mad dash to Christmas, huh?  I've decided to do handmade gifts for the family this year.  I'm not sure I quite realize what I've gotten myself into, but I'm committed!  I have to figure out some ways that Hubs can help me assemble everything because I know it's going to be a lot of work, but at the same time I'm a little bit of a control freak when it comes to creative stuff.  I better figure it out for my own sanity though!

Hope everyone's Thanksgiving was fabulous!

Give thanks, or something

What I need to do, and maybe this is why I'm here right now typing this - because I think it will help, is somehow take a step back from the anxiety that has been getting to me the past few days.  At first it was kind of generalized, waking up stressed and worried and proceeding to feel tense throughout the day, and then I started to put my finger on what's going on in my head.  There are a lot of things, and nothing really new: Money, family tension, the holidays, work...  It isn't always easy not having the benefit of a good ol' prescription medication to keep the stress at bay, but up until the past week or so I've been doing pretty good.  Now I wish I could just pop a Xanax and make the butterflies fade away for a few hours!  I have tried a glass of wine since I've been pregnant but it doesn't agree with me; the booze makes my body feel weird and achy and uncomfortable.  No idea what that's about and I'm not going to ask my doctor since she made it clear from day one that she's against any amount of drinking during pregnancy.  Damn teetotaler.

So I'm on my own to try to handle this anxious feeling.  I'm not looking forward to dinner with my family tomorrow, what with the drama with my dad.  Hopefully I'm making a mountain out of a molehill, he's simmered down a bit, and tomorrow will be perfectly pleasant.  I will hope for that.

The good news is that Hubs has the next two days off, so we almost get a long weekend together, except that he has to work Saturday.  I can live with that.  It's always a pain when either of us has to work the day after Thanksgiving, which has been pretty much every year since we've been married.  Seriously, Black Friday should be a Federal holiday just so people have a chance to digest and come out of their turkey hangovers.  But no one ever asks me for my opinion on the matter!  Maybe I should start a petition or write my congressman or something.

Oh!  I just noticed the lovely sunset.  The sky is blue and pink and yellowish and wispy with clouds.  And Atticus is whining to be fed, so I guess this is as good a place to stop as any.  Happy Thanksgiving, all.  I think I'll focus on gratitude for the rest of the evening instead of on my worries.  Look at that, I think I just found my solution. :)