My fiancee has two kids and I have two kids. We found a wonderful 5BR house in Tierrasanta and bought it. Unfortunately, my fiancee, though she loves our Maximum Leader, is allergic to cats. No problem, I thought - we'll just make her GarageCat and let her come in and socialize with us in the evenings. She loves the outdoors and with a cat door in the garage, she'd be quite happy.
Yesterday we found out from our neighbors that not only does the area have coyotes, since the last set of wildfires, the coyotes roam the neighborhoods even during the day. They told us that the average lifespan of any kind of outdoor cat is about 7 days. As much as I love having her around me, it's just not worth either closing her up in the garage all day and night or giving her the death sentence that goes with being outdoors.
After 10 or so years together, I've got to find her a new home.
The things we forget to ask before buying a place...
ReplyDeleteSad news indeed. :( Gonna miss the pics.
ReplyDeleteThat's so awful. A betrayal of a loyal friend. She will never get over it.
ReplyDeleteThere must be another way. There must?
How sad! The Post just won't be the Post without the occasional reports from and about The Maximum Leader. Maybe she can issue a catwa and banish the coyotes from your new neighborhood. Or maybe she can establish the Feline Theocracy in Exile similar to the Babylonian Captivity of the Papacy during the Middle Ages when popes held court in Avignon, France. Before she leaves, she'll have to issue a farewell statement to all her loyal supporters. :(
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the wishes of support!
ReplyDeleteFirst, about the house. We would have bought it even had we known. It's just too good of a financial deal to pass up and it will be wonderful for our family.
Second, I have lots of wonderful friends. Wherever our Maximum Leader ends up, it won't be far away and I'm sure it will be with someone I visit regularly so I'll still post photos.
Consider it an exercise in missionary work for the Maximum Leader of the Feline Theocracy. Someone has to go among the unwashed natives and spread the Good Word!
:-)
I've always thought of cats as pretty independent creatures, she'll be fine.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was young and we had the farm in England, there were about thirty cats living mostly in the big hay barn, some quite feral, we never fed them, lots of rats and mice in a barn! I'd put some milk out each evening when milking was done and that was it. Now and then one of the dogs would take a mind to do one of them in but otherwise they survived in good shape. Hope that doesn't seem callous, it's just the way it was on the farm. I get really annoyed about things like people getting all sentimental the wolf cull in Alaska without a clue what it's all about. Animals are not human!
On a more understanding note, did you see this book review?
Pets become a part of our lives.
ReplyDeleteI hope whever the Maximum Leader ends up, she enjoys!
Well, it may not work well enough, but: one of our cats is a dander machine, he sheds enough hair and dander for five cats. So, we got this anti-dander spray and grooming brush from the vet, and I go over him once a week. It works wonders. He can now sit in my lap to be petted, and I am actually *not covered in cat hair and dandruff afterwards*! He's much shinier now, too. None of us in the house are actually allergic to cats, so I don't know if it will clean a cat up enough to suppress the allergic reactions, but it might be worth a try. Maybe you could actually make it possible for everybody to get along.
ReplyDeleteSad news. I know you would have looked into all options before resorting to this. I sent the word out to my parents to see if they know anybody who would want wonderful cat.
ReplyDeleteSo how is the commute to work from the new address?
Tim, thanks for the idea, but I haven't heard much success in getting a cat to stop being an allergen, though much has been tried.
ReplyDeleteKelly, thanks for the nice words. It was heartbreaking to finally come to the conclusion, but I still wouldn't have changed the decision. I'm scouring my contacts for a place for her to live. Your parents would be a terrific solution.
The commute is about 20 minutes longer. It's an opportunity to listen to podcasts. :-)
I shall have to have a "talk" with my little cowardly cousins the coyotes.....as I have done in my little part of heaven.
ReplyDeleteAs the Pater of Prowling, the safety and well being of our Leaderus Maximus is prime directive.
I got two months left also, moving into our new digs this weekend. I even remembered to take pictures and post 'em this time.
*ps...they make shots for cat allergies now*