Sufferin' Succotash!

Yes, this entry is about the cat! My mischievous little black cat named Sylvester! Sylvester adopted us a little over a year ago. He wandered into my garage the week before Thanksgiving 2008 as a sad, 2 pound, scrawny black kitten. He must have seen the "sucker" sign posted over my door when he chose our garage. I am allergic to cats! As a child I used to get frequent, horrendous nose bleeds. When we moved from Colorado to New Mexico and Texas they became so severe that they thought I must have a bleeding disorder and should be anemic from blood loss. One round of allergy tests later showed cats as my number one allergen followed by alfalfa, dust, and mold that grows in potted house plants. We had two cats at the time, were surrounded by alfalfa fields and I had several little house plants in my room. Years of allergy shots later and my allergies have calmed down to a more manageable level. Needless to say, I was not thrilled to find a pathetic cat in my garage looking for a home. It was supposed to freeze that night and there was no way I could turn a poor, helpless animal away. I managed to catch him, give him some milk and a blanket to curl up with in one of my dog crates. We had our weekly Bible study over that night for our annual pre-Thanksgiving turkey fry, so the kitten went in the garage in the crate while we were outside. I didn't want Joshua to see it and I didn't want my dogs exposed to an unvaccinated animal. I asked everyone in the group if they wanted a cat but didn't have any takers. Eric was working late that night and didn't join us until the end of the group. I showed him the cat and asked him to go get some cat litter and kitten food for the night. I knew I was in trouble when he got back from the store. Not only did we have a large bag of cat litter and food, but my husband (my very reserved, level headed husband) was sitting in the floor of the garage in his suit petting the kitten and dangling an assortment of cat toys over the kitten's head. He then proceeded to bring Joshua out in the garage to see the kitty. I was sunk! Two days later found me at the vet's office getting the kitten, now dubbed Sylvester, checked out.

Since then he has been a mostly fun addition to our menagerie. For whatever reason he doesn't seem to bother my allergies much. That's a good thing considering his favorite spot is in my lap in the evenings. That is when he's not making mischief! I have had puppies but never a kitten. The cats we had when I was a kid were full grown by the time I was on the scene. Sylvester can make more mischief than both dogs and Joshua put together. He's smart and crafty! His new favorite trick since all our company left and we've been on our own is to wait until I sit down to feed Lily and then get on the countertops and get into everything! We have a Beta fish that sits on the bar in front of the kitchen sink. Poor fish has a nervous tick due to constant threats on his life. Sylvester has even crawled on top of my salt water tank and tried to figure out how to get the lid open. The Amyrillis we get for Christmas has been toppled several times and the Aero Garden is an unlimited source of fascination. When our current round of herbs gets big enough I suspect the cat will have basil on his breath! I have had to resort to locking him in his room before I start to feed Lily just to keep things sane. Sylvester thinks he is a dog most of the time and continually pounces Hershey and Cocoa. They put up with it to a point but then a dog/cat fight breaks out....usually while my hands are full. I have tried everything I can think of to keep him off tables and countertops and the little stinker looks me in the eye, hops up and sits there swishing his tail as if to say "so what ya gonna do about it?" UGH!!! Then he turns around to polish my ankles and purr once I knock him off the forbidden area like nothing's wrong. So maddening! This morning when I decided to write about him, I was treated to a symphony of pathetic meows and yowls from behind the study door where he was locked up so I could feed the baby in peace. I love him but sometimes I want to string him up by his tail!