For years Falcon has been campaigning for a third cat. Once Shiro (our golden retriever service dog) joined us, she doubled down, insisting that Shiro needed a friend. Momo, our 7-year-old calico, and Taro, our 5-year old gray-blue cat, want nothing to do with Shiro. Since Shiro seems to have zero ability to be cool or chill, she consistently succeeds at fully irritating the cats. The always reticent Taro won't even be in the same room when Shiro isn't crated, and Momo has dealt with Shiro's boundless joy by clearly asserting her dominance. Whenever Shiro tries to say hello with a nose boop, she gets a cat-paw thwap on the head in return.
For almost as long as Falcon has wanted a cat, I've wanted a cat named Kevin. Momo, Taro, and Kevin just has such an amazing ring to it. Momo, Taro, Shiro, and Kevin.
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| Timid Taro |
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| Momo doesn't need you |
Recently Falcon had to have some blood drawn. Since she has an extreme needle phobia, having blood drawn is no easy feat. Every time she has to do something that requires a needle to pierce her skin, she asks me if I will give her another cat. I always say no. But the last blood test was different. First, Falcon asked me to take her to get it; I make it a point not to force her to have things done to her body without her permission, so I'd been waiting to get this one done for a few months. How do I make sure she is as healthy as she can be without forcing her? It's a difficult line to walk, but she has always come around to blood draws and shots on her own eventually (though sometimes with a lot of strong encouragement from me). This time, there was no cajoling.
Second, even though the draw happened at a place where Falcon had one of her worst blood-draw experiences ever (they restrained her in something that looked a lot like a straightjacket), she walked into that lab like a champ. And, even though the phlebotomist decided that the best conversation topic to distract her was FOOD ALLERGIES and how sorry she felt for kids who have food allergies and especially for kids with PEANUT allergies,*** Falcon kept her cool. When the phlebotomist got a "bad" vein and had to try again on the other arm, though, the traumatizing allergy conversation started to get to Falcon. By the time the blood was drawn, she was positively pale, blue almost. Immediately, her body reacted to the stress by making her throw up.
As the mom of a kid who struggles with this particular phobia, I couldn't imagine a worse scenario. How would I EVER convince Falcon to have blood drawn again? Of course, I left that experience praying she wouldn't need blood drawn for a long, long time. The universe didn't comply, though. It turns out Falcon is going to need more blood tests and probably fairly regularly. Not long before I had to give her that news, I decided it was time to get Kevin.
The hiccup, of course, is that I had to convince Ren that this was a good idea. He understood my motivation but also wondered why we needed another cat. He's sure he is the one who spends the most time caring for them (he's not). It took about three days for him to come around, and as soon as he gave the slightest indication that he would support the idea, Falcon and I were in the car on our way to the Humane Society.
That's how cats come into our lives.
We had a particular cat in mind when we got there, but the place was packed and the lines long, so we were sure she'd be gone. Both of us had a hard time being patient as we waited. When we finally got to the front of the line, we were thrilled to learn the cat was still there and that there was still enough time before they closed for us to see if she was the one for us.
She was.
But, apparently she isn't a Kevin. I mean, I campaigned HARD, but sometimes no one else in my family gets my sense of humor. Birdie was a close second choice for me, but that also got shot down. So, meet Bunny Pearl. She's named after the shiba-inu we had when we lived in Japan.
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| Bunny P |
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| She seems right at home in MY CHAIR |
Considering the fact that we were a pet-less family for more than 10 years, I find it pretty funny that we have so many animals living with us now. Just imagine how much vacuuming Ren has to do!
***For those who haven't been long-time readers: Falcon has many serious food allergies, including to peanuts. Link and link.
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