I’m allergic to cats.
I’m allergic to cats, but I love them. They’re hilarious. They’re so full of spunk and personality, and I love the way they purr and how they are so independent and how they’re so so fluffy. They’re fabulous. I love dogs equally, for slightly different reasons, but I have always loved cats.
However, asthma and cats do not often get along.
So instead of any indoor cats, I have often had outdoor cats, or what many people refer to as “barn cats” or “farm cats.” I grew up in (very) rural north Louisiana, and cats were often necessary to keep snakes and other unwanted creatures away. I had outdoor cats for most of my high school, and I remember one time in particular when we were looking for a couple of cats – two, just two, because two was plenty and could be together for each other.
I reached out to my friend Brandi, who had mentioned that she had some kittens – four, actually – that needed homes. I said that we would take two, and she said that was great, she’d put them in a kennel for me to take home.
Now, I’m not saying this was purposeful, but she happened to arrange this handoff at a time when she and her family were leaving that morning on vacation. The plan was for her to get the kittens together in the kennel before they left that morning, and I’d come pick them up soon after.
I drove up to her house and found the kennel in the carport. I could hear the mewing inside, and I was so excited to see my two new kittens to love and care for. As I got closer to the kennel, though, I noticed that – boy, that was a lot of mewing.
I peered in the cage and amid the hissing (because they were not happy about being cooped up) and mewing, I saw definitely more than two sets of eyes.
That’s right. I saw four sets of eyes staring right back at me.
For a moment, I was stumped. I couldn’t open the kennel because they would all escape and I’d be back at square one. No, if I wanted kittens, there was only one option available.
I was going home with four. Kudos to my friend and her family for managing to find homes for all four kittens simultaneously.
In the end, the kittens flourished at our house. We ended up with two males and two females, and they lived long, comfortable lives (especially after my dad built a house in a tree for them, complete with a balcony – I kid you not), keeping our home safe from snakes, birds, lizards and the like and, other than a trip to the vet for spaying/neutering, never seeing the inside of a kennel again.
