A Certain Kind of Manic

We recently lost our cat Misty. She was sweet and gentle and company at night, often sleeping on my lap while I sat and did notes.  She was an older cat (15yrs) or a young senior cat as a vet would say. But she was very healthy and had no issues with eating or toileting, and her kidneys where functioning, and no diabetes.  So her sudden death from a blood clot came as a complete surprise.  It was a horrible choice. We could put a beloved pet who is in pain through a painful risky surgery with only a 15 - 50% change of a partial recovery.  With the knowledge that she could have another blood clot at any time.  Or let her go and give her a dignified release from pain.  Luckily everyone in the family agreed that it was the best we could do to say goodbye for one last loving hour then have her put to sleep. 

I need to give a shout out to Brighton Town and Country Animal Hospital, not only did they agree to see Misty 20 min to closing, but they stayed open for us and waited for Dawn to arrive and gave our family as much time as we needed to say goodbye.  It was 12:45 am before we finally finished and left the clinic, and they were gentle, caring and did not rush us at all in our hour of need.

We have played host to several cats over the years.  Some reached a natural end, some simply disappeared (One I think might have been stolen), but we always had 2 or 3 at a time and so I always had another cat around.  Our sister in law Brenda has a severe allergy to cats, as in can't breathe and has to go to the hospital.  Steve and I have a routine now of showering, washing the dog(who is contaminated) and only bringing freshly laundered clothes (On allergen cycle) when visiting.  They are unable to come to our house due to the cat.  So our plan had been not to get another when Misty passed. That was when I thought I had 2-3 more years with her.

So coupled with the depression from loosing a pet is the sadness that we will not be able to get another.  Maybe I am making too big a deal out of it, but I feel lost.  I have loved and had cats in my life since I was a little girl.  There's a pretty big hole right now and I don't know how to fill it. 

Fast forward to Steve mentioning that he was researching Hypoallergenic cats.  (Technically there is no such thing, there are just breeds that have less of the protein in their saliva that people are allergic to.)
Right that's all I needed to have permission to start my own research and scanning of petfinder and various breed rescue sites.  No we are not buying a 1500$ kitten, and yes that's how much the breeders generally charge.  Steve likes the Balinese, I like the Siberian, So if anyone happens to know of one that is available we would love to give it a good home.  In the mean time Steve is somewhat resolved to just rescuing a cat in need regardless of breed and we shall just continue our dance to shield Brenda from cat allergens.  We will also be resigned to his sister never coming to our house. 

Some may remember when I went a little dog crazy and started obsessively researching breeds, scanning rescue sites and watching The Dog Whisperer. Um yah well now I seem to be doing that for cats.  No cat can replace Misty, they all have their own personalities.  Steve has more of a "well if we're going to get one lets just get one" attitude.  I have visited a couple shelters but haven't fallen in love with any of them yet.  Sure we could give a cat a good home, but I guess I am waiting for that "Aha, this is the right cat for us"  moment.  I also promised Leanna not to get a new cat while she is out of the country.  So I apologize for my distracted behavior as I randomly scan Petfinder and adopt a pet sites, looking for the right match for us.  Steve says we should get one white one and one black one and call them Aziraphel and Crawley.

Rest in Peace dear Misty, you are missed and were greatly loved.