haven't been discussed, I'd be in a serious world of poo. It's actually quite embarrassing. My twin brother makes fun of my relationship with them. He tells me that I'm going to turn into the crazy old cat lady. I grew up with a dog and never liked cats. When I had my first apartment by myself, I wanted a pet but couldn't commit to the high needs of a dog. A friend of mine talked me into getting a cat and she knew someone who's cat just had kittens. That's when I got Benny. He is going on 10 years old and I love him very very much. Since Penelope has come into our daily lives, he has gotten old. Or grumpy I guess. Oddly enough, he is grumpy now but loves Penelope. When she first moved in, he would urinate on her bed. On a couple of occasions he went nuts and tried to attack her to the point I had to barricade her door. Makes you wonder what she did to him. I had to spend the night in her bed one night when she wasn't there in order to get him to stop peeing on her bed. His fits to attack her were a reaction to her fits so it was one way to get her to stop fitting - and it worked ironically enough. Now they love each other. He likes to chase her and smack her on the back of her legs while she runs from one end of the house to the other. It's quite entertaining actually. He sleeps at the foot of her bed at night - I'm not worried about her hurting him. He demands a certain about of respect and fear from her. Since the door alarm went in, it's been tricky but she knows if she is violent, Benny isn't allowed to stay in her room - for his safety. She doesn't like being thought of that way and is pretty good about it lately. But let me tell you, it's hell when he isn't allowed in her room. He has figured out how to open her door.
This cutie pie is Nancy. Nancy and Drew are Penelope's cats. To help Penelope feel like she had things that truly belonged to her (with conditions), I wanted to get her a cat for her birthday when she turned 11. She had just been diagnosed with RAD but before I really knew anything about it. I knew she had just gotten out of the hospital for wanting to end her life and was very sad and emotionally troubled girl. I didn't know the full extent of her abuse. I thought that having a pet of her own would be therapeutic in learning social skills, being loved and giving love. Nancy is the more timid cat. The kind I typically hated. They hide when guests come, don't like to be held or picked up, don't trust, etc. The only reason I adopted her, initially, was because in all my research the 6 months prior. The places we talked to would either strongly recommend or require when adopting kittens, that you adopt two. At first I thought "Heck no!" but the idea grew on me as I also really wanted to do this for Penelope. My only hangup on getting a kitten for her was how it would affect Benny. I was also told that with the age discrepancy between Benny and a kitten that it would help Benny by having the kitten have someone ELSE to play with. My twin brother of course used that bit of information to support his theory to my naivety. Ironically Nancy demonstrates some of the same behaviors Penelope has and has shown Penelope how sometimes it takes longer for certain people to trust. That even eye contact can be uncomfortable to some. Nancy and I have been come great friends and Penelope sees that and sees that it's about interaction.
This is Drew. If you haven't figured it out yet on your own, yes... Nancy and Drew.. Nancy Drew. Penelope loves the computer games. We have most of them. Drew is Penelope's favorite and she will tell you that. We picked the Nancy and Drew pair because of Drew. He has the perfect personality for Penelope. He is very laid back. He will speak up and tell you he doesn't like something but it takes a lot to get him to that point. He isn't afraid of Penelope and lets her carry him around, though he's grown to be a huge cat. He will stay with her if she puts him next to her. He is just a very agreeable cat. She has learned a lot from him too. About love I think. She will never try to run away again, because Drew is here. When she thought she was going to jail, the think that upset her the most was that she wouldn't get to see her Drew.Now, it wasn't their purpose but they have been helpful for me as well. They are my comic relief, company during my days alone, and just warm and soft to hug when I need one. I could tell you some stories.
This weekend they mostly hung out in Penelope's room. They do that when she isn't home. But my mom and I bathed Drew. He has never had a bath but he has started to stink a bit too much lately. He is kinda lazy and being black shows all. I sweep my hardwood floors but he beat me to the punch this week I guess. He tolerated the bath fairly well. I think I'm fairly good at giving cats baths anyway. I used to bathe Benny frequently until he got older. I think younger cats have to practice the whole self-cleaning thing I guess. Nancy does fine with cleaning though, she is constantly cleaning and enjoys it purring loudly the entire time. Maybe that's a female cat thing.
But I just wanted to 1) share something less depressing, and 2) share my in-house support system.
No comments:
Post a Comment