My Furry Purry Friend Part 2
Quick recap, in the last article I was explaining how I found my cat Isis and how raising him was very tough for quite a while with his behavioral issues. As time went on though, he taught me some valuable lessons and helped me through my blood cancer treatments.
He didn’t care I was sick just that I was his mom
Chemo was very difficult for me. Losing my hair especially and gaining all that weight from Prednisone. I was bullied a lot growing up for being overweight. As an adult I had gotten into healthy shape but once again found myself at my highest weight. And it triggered a lot of emotional issues for me. I refused to let people take pictures of me for the longest time.
But my cat Isis didn’t care. He would nestle himself near my head or in my lap and just spend time with me. He still knew it was me, he just wanted to be next to me. That meant everything.
He taught me empathy with his problems too
Isis has what I call “Cat Anxiety” I have no idea if that’s a real thing but if it is he has it.
He has since calmed down and been much better. But for a while, we had a room mate with another cat that couldn’t be contained in one room part of the time. So Isis had to be around the other cat a lot. And tried to murder said cat a lot. I had to move him indefinitely to our laundry room after a while. I hated it, he hated it, everyone hated it. He was angry all the time and I couldn’t blame him. I tried to make everything as easy as possible but it was hard.
I researched different things, calming sprays, herbal snacks, etc. My friend recommended a vest called a thunder shirt. Isis wore it like a vest/harness combo and it hugged him tight enough to give him some pressure like well, a hug. This helped significantly and made him easier to catch if he tried to attack the other cat but life was still hard.
Eventually, the other cat moved out and Isis was able to roam the house again. It took time for us to trust each other again. But we have and are doing very well now.
But looking back, I learned a lot of patience and have even more respect for people who have similar roles as caregivers. Maybe not as dramatic as my situation, but having to improvise trying to problem solve, do research, stay up for hours through the night trying to console, it’s tough!
We’re closer now
I think we both have some ptsd from our tough period lol. But Isis and I have actually learned to read each other better. He has different meows and body language I’ve learned to interpret. Isis has also learned my tones and body language as well.
He’s also learned if he lays on me long enough in the morning on my internal organs I’ll get up earlier than intended to feed him. What can I say, he’s a smart cat.
He still gets into trouble though, but again, he’s a cat. That’s like asking a dog not to bark at a birthday clown or something. Should they? No of course not unless it’s John Wayne Gacy but they don’t really understand what a birthday clown is!
They only know so much, and just like trying to explain our illness to outsiders, we have to be understanding and patient of that too. But that doesn’t mean we can’t educate!
Warm wishes, Katelynn
Join the conversation