The Blessing of Abby the Cat

I always chat with my kids a bit before I put them to bed for the night. I sing them a little song and tuck them in. A few nights ago Suni surprised me by sharing "I am glad you didn't let them kill Abby." I didn't know what he was talking about at first. We have had Abby for almost a year. Who was going to kill her?

Then he reminded me, "You know those people who took her to the vet?" And I remembered the story. I am glad too. She has been such a blessing to the family. What happened was a little more than a year ago I took my two kittens to the vet to have them "fixed". As I was waiting to pick them up I spotted this gorgeous persian-looking cat in a cage held by a very sad owner. I couldn't resist asking "What is wrong with her?"

It turns out she was not getting along very well with the dog and she was "peeing" everywhere and they thought it was a medical problem but they had tried everything and they didn't know what to do anymore. It was so horrible and the decision had been so hard but they had finally decided to have her put down. She was to die that day.

As is typical of me, I didn't think before talking, I simply went on the energy of my intuition. "Can I have her?" I said. The owner had a glint of happiness then it quickly faded. They went on to explain to me about all the trouble she would be and did I know what I was getting into?

I said that I did (although I didn't really) and I happily took her home.

Abby started out in my son's room as a way of easing her into the rest of the house but as time went on a few things became obvious in her personality:

1. She prefered to be without other animals.
2. She prefererd to be in small safe places instead of outside or the whole house.
3. She was very territorial and didn't like it when Suni left things on the floor or in her way.

Well, it took her about 7 months to train Suni to keep his door shut, keep the other pets out, and keep the floor clean, but now she is a happy cat and no longer pees anywhere and is the most charming sweet cat you could ever imagine. When you pet her she purrs like no other cat I have ever heard. She is so soft you just want to melt into her when she sits on your lap. Her temperament is sweet with children and adults and even strangers (but not other pets) and every night when Suni goes to bed she follows him up the ladder and snuggles in next to him.

I am as happy that we found her as she is! Abby has taught us that pets have emotional needs as much as humans do and as long as we honor her needs she is the perfect pet!