Ramblings of a geek with a few hobbies…
The Johnson household is back to two cats. Today we went to Sangamon County Animal Control in hopes of finding a suitable kitten for our home, and brought home a fun little energetic boy.
David immediately started calling him Bottles for reasons unknown to us, so we figured we’d try that out as a name. Several hours later we decided Bottles just wasn’t working out, so we instead have ended up with Faraday. Dozer and Faraday. Works well.
More photos available in the gallery.
This past Tuesday (January 20), we had to have one of our cats put to sleep. Neo has had a past of developing crystals in his bladder and blocking him up, and last week was just too much for him to handle. We had several trips to the vet and emergency vet (the “nights and weekends” vet), with a couple of procedures done to offer some relief, but in the end they were just not sufficient.
Ana got Neo from “kitty juvy” (the humane society behind the youth correctional center in Springfield) when she got out of college, and was a great companion since. He had some bipolar tendencies, but he really loved Ana, myself, Dozer, and David.
I’ve never had to have a pet euthanized; I found it incredibly difficult when I had to actually say the words of permission to the vet. I’ll never forget that or the last 30 minutes of his life.
Neo, thank you for everything. You’ll always have a place in our hearts.
As this is my first post, I just wanted to say hello to everyone who has been keeping track of our events via the blog. I know that there were many thoughts and prayers that have helped get us through everything these last few months, weeks and especially days. Thank you for your love and support, we appreciate it and know that it made a difference.
We are now all home and doing very well. As many of you know (or may all know) we have 2 cats that have been treated as our children since we were married. Affectionately known as ‘the boys’, our cats have been a large part of our life and there was much concern as to how they would adjust. Well they are both adjusting in their own ways.
Neo, the older of the two, has decided he isn’t too sure of the little one. Don’t worry, he isn’t aggressive, just taking an avoidance strategy but also quite upset at me for brining him home. He will allow me to pet him if David is not in the room. He sometimes forgets he’s mad at me and lets me hold him, but the instant there is a reminder (smell, sound, etc) he gets upset and leaves. He’ll come around, he’s my big boy and has been the center of attention for a while so this is hard on him.
Dozer, also known as Eric’s cat, has impressed us both with his acceptance. While he’s not keeping guard over the little one, he has definitely not given him the cold shoulder. He is doing what he can to make sure his place in the family is still as active. For those who know Dozer, he loves being the center of Eric’s attention, so when Eric is reading to David or holding him, Dozer is on the other side and paying just as much attention. When we were giving David his first bath, he (David) cried the whole time. What surprised us was Dozer’s reaction. Dozer was right there, seeming to be yelling at me to stop hurting him and was very concerned for David during the whole ordeal. It was a touching reminder of my family’s old cat Sandy who used to console Maria and me when we were crying or upset.
Anyway, we have grown as a family. While we’re not sure if we will be able to break the habit of referring to the cats as ‘the boys’, they will still remain a part of our growing family. David is doing well in his second day at home and I’m doing what I can to take care of the two of us and remember to ask for help instead of trying to over-do it. Hard for me since my mother did a fantastic job of raising her daughters to be independent. Thank you mom, but don’t worry, I’ll ask for your help (and others). Eric is doing a fantastic job of getting everything done and harassing me when I try to do something I shouldn’t be doing.
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