Day by day

I’d always heard that animals could be good therapy to those who were sick and/or elderly, but I’d never really seen it put into practice until a year ago.

It was June and my partner had been wanting to get a cat for the longest time because he missed having his big calico cat, Princess, around. We stopped at the local animal shelter but they were closed and wouldn’t be open for another two hours. There were a few cats in the window so we watched them for a bit. As we were watching a car pulls up with a man and a lady in it. The lady asks if we’re looking for a kitty. We said we were and head over to their car. In a cat carrier there are three black and white kitties, one girl and two boys. One boy and the girl are full of energy, crawling all over one another to get our attention, but the other boy was at the back of the carrier getting stepped on, mostly by his brother. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know that the moment my partner looked at that one it was going to be the one we took home.

When we was pulled out of the carrier he was so small and scared so I held him as securely, but as carefully as I could on my lap while we drove the short distance home. At home we brought him down to the basement where it was coolest and set him down on the floor so he could explore. He bonded with my partner almost instantly because my partner has that gift about him. With me it took him several months of feeding him, petting him and such before he would even consider jumping up on the couch near me just to be there close to me. We noticed that he had his tail broken in a couple of places and he didn’t mew. He also wanted to suckle which meant he was separated from his mother too early, but we did our best to give him as much love and attention as we could and it paid off. Now he’s bigger than quite a few cats that my partner and I know, and he’s solid. It looks like he’s got some spine and/or skeletal problems, but that doesn’t stop him from being a spaz and running all over the house or else trying to either jump down from a great height, or see how high up he can jump.

It’s a joy to see him attacking a paper bag or cardboard box. There are times that his energy seems even too much for the both of us, but we wouldn’t want him any other way. We love his spaz times about as much as the times when one of us isn’t feeling so well either physically or mentally (both in my case) and he’ll lay near us, close enough for us to pet him and give him scritches. There are also times when he’ll come right up and snuggle down with me for a bit, even though he’s not really a snuggler. Those small amounts of time are so special to me. Oh, and he doesn’t talk he huffs, but it’s so funny because at times we’ll talk to him and he huffs back like he’s conversing with us.

I’m so glad that we have him, and I hope we  have him for many years to come. I have a hard time remembering what life was like before him, but it’s been a lot better since. I know just the time he spends with me when I’m down helps me to be able to get through the rest of the day. Even just picking him up and cuddling with him a few seconds helps. I don’t know what type of magic that he has that helps me and my partner out when we need it, but I’m glad he does. And what exactly is this special little furry guy’s name? Voodoo

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