My Cats Are My Kids

Unlike many of my contemporaries and one of my younger siblings, I never managed to procreate. Instead I have pussycats and right now the oldest one is at the vet's waiting for dental surgery tomorrow afternoon.

Bootsie is a sweetheart of a kitty with big, intelligent eyes and a gentle demeanor that is belied by his habit of picking on the other kitties because he is the biggest and can. I am, for the moment, calm but have been crying on and off because I am so worried about him. Not only is Bootsie positively antique for a cat, he is also in kidney failure - though stable and not in apparent pain, may be hyperthyroid - with an elevated heart rate that is a concern to our vet, and has a miserable infection from several broken off and rotten teeth that need to be removed in order to get completely rid of the infection - hence the dental surgery. I know there are some very powerful arguments for having an animal in this condition put down but I hesitate for one reason only, Bootsie does not seem to WANT to be "put down." He is still eating very well and loving being loved, so if we can get him through the surgery without incident (or, at least, alive) and get this infection cleared up, he may yet have several months during which we can love, adore, pamper and treasure our beloved "Boo-zilla." We won't know what's up until later tomorrow, so I sit here and type in the interim, hoping and praying for a feline miracle for my wonderful and loving pet.

It occurs to me that I may have embarrassed the vet tech this evening when I told Boots that "Mum mum will see you tomorrow." I do have some sense of humor about my besottedness where my cats are concerned but, as stated before, they are my only babies, my only children, which makes my emotional investment in them perhaps a little more intense than might have been the case otherwise; I really cannot say for certain, having always loved cats from the time I was a small child.

I do know that my unconditional love for my cats has everything to do with their unconditional love and acceptance for me and their absolute lack of evil or sin - those are things only for people to know in their hearts. Always innocent, I am ever mindful of their place in my life and their trust and need for my care for them, which I sometimes fail to render with sufficient concern or energy, due mostly to a lack of energy of my own or true ignorance as to what it is that is ailing them.

There, my "Mommy" creed and true confessions of a cataholic. I do not wish to ever take any of it back.

Izzlebug