Trials and Tests

Life has a way of throwing curve balls and testing one's patience and tolerance. I often lament the fact that I did not heed the oft-mentioned advice, "Don't try to grow up too fast." Hindsight is always twenty-twenty.

My primary job is coming upon some rough times. The commodity business is never a good business to be in when there is a nation-wide recession, and we are definitely beginning to feel the crunch up in rural New York. It's so bad that I did not receive my regular paycheck last week, which is admittedly rubbing me quite roughly in the wrong direction. I've always be a very patient and tolerant person, but having already been through a similar situation with a waitressing job I held a few years ago, I am hesitant to let this get out of hand. I am assuming (hoping) that the issue will clear up swiftly, but if not, I think I might not show up to work if this continues for longer then a week.

On a brighter note, the stray cat that adopted us, lovingly dubbed "Little Ma" by my boyfriend, has successfully given birth to her babies. We are now the proud parents of five squeaking kittens. They are so precious, with their silly ears and squinted eyes, fur as soft as cashmere. I hope to have pictures affixed soon. It was wonderful to see the joy on the mother cat's face. I know it sounds cheesy, but yes, you could see her joy. Her happiness. Her love. She is an attentive and doting mother to her babies and spends the majority of her day cleaning, checking, feeding and basking with her kittens, constantly purring and kneading the nest.

With nine cats in the household now, I am desperately trying to place the two nightmare cats gifted us by our 'friends'. My patiently forgiving side is trying to give them the benefit of the doubt, but the fact of the matter is that they knew the cats had serious issues when they offered them to us, and they neglected to relay that same information to us. Unbeknown to us at the time of the adoption, these two long-haired female cats do not get along with any other felines, and when sharing a house with other cats, they will not only fight and terrorize the offending member (who happens to be our first cat, Lila, aka my Princess), but they will refuse to use the litter box. Given that we rent our home, and all the furniture therein, this is becoming a HUGE issue. Not only have the cats defecated in the middle of the floor on a number of occassions, they have also urinated on area rugs, carpeting, quilts and bedding, mattresses and the couch.

After two months of patiently breaking up cat fights, scrubbing couch cushions and laundering innumerable loads of towels, bedding and rugs (which surprisingly do not take well to washing machines), we have decided the cats need to be separated until we can find suitable arrangements. It pains me to keep them secluded in such a small place, but a large dog kennel is all we have to keep them from destroying our home and costing us large sums of money in replacing the landlord's furnishings. Having a soft spot for animals makes it impossible for me to simply bring them to a shelter or SPCA location; the chances of an adult cat getting placed are low. I am hoping I will be able to find a sanctuary that will care for them. As much hell as they have put us through, I would hate for something bad to come of them. It wouldn't be right for us to take on the responsibility and then turn around and put them in a worse position, regardless of their behavior and problems. They didn't ask to be adopted.