Damn Cat

After reading a lovely post by Teri about love and relationships, the best I can come up with is my cat. Not quite as much romance as Teri's story--you'll have to go here to read about that.

So this cat of ours causes more stress than he is worth. Don't get me wrong, I like cats (more than I like dogs) and he has been with us for almost 8 years now. In that time he has yaked on the carpet more times than I can count; ruined numerous items by "spraying" them (think stinky cat pee combined with horrible smelling ass-oil); broken items which include but are not limited to: a toilet tank cover, a lamp, a shelf, and glasses; destroyed Beanie Babies and many other plastic chewable items included favorite flip-flops; and caused major damage to our carpet by using the whole floor as his personal scratching post (we are either too nice or too stupid to get him de-clawed). Sounds loveable, right?

Dh loves cats even more than I do. He grew up with a cat and his whole family are cat people--between him and his brothers there are two children (those would be ours) and 6 cats. At one time we were having LC tested for allergies and I think he would've given her up before the cat. The cat gets more snuggles, kisses, and "I love you's" from dh in one day than I get in about three months. Dh named the cat, therefore he is named after dh's all-time football hero--John Elway. Since John was already taken in our family, the cat got Elway. He is also referred to as Ellie, Ellie Bellie, damn cat, and "You little shit!". He is also huge--most people say he is one of the biggest cats they have ever seen. He is very long and lean and used to weigh about 18 lbs.

So when we go away, we have to find someone to cat sit for us. Before we moved, we had a great friend who loves animals and was willing to do this for us on multiple occasions. I don't think she is interested in driving 1 hr each way this weekend to check on the damn cat. So we thought about bringing him with us to the IL's. Before we had children we used to travel with the cat all the time. Both of our parents tolerated him, hoping that grandchildren would soon be on the way. I mentioned to SIL that we were bringing the cat along this weekend and she was like, "Ummm, have you said anything to mom yet because you might want to ask her first." So dh mentions it to MIL and gets much protest from her and FIL. They are worried about their hardwood floors, cat hair, and any other messes. Great.

So what to do? Super sister to the rescue! My lovely sister is going to her IL's house this weekend and our house just happens to be on the way. They have agreed to stop on Friday and Sunday to check on him, feed him, scoop him and love him (well the first three anyway). I can't say thank you enough. I know there will be some item in the house destroyed before we get home and probably a few new stains on the carpet. I'm sure the damn cat has run through at least 7 of his 9 lives so maybe he won't be around for long. We'll see.