A New Addition to the Family

...no not that kind of addition.

I don't have a picture of her yet, but we have taken in a stray cat. From what I hear (on the street and at the vet's office), we have gotten very lucky. Unlike many Doha strays, ours is gentle, affectionate, and doesn't easily run or get spooked away when people approach her. Hannah spotted her one day, immediately cuddled with her, and that was all she wrote...sort of.

Unfortunately, Hubby is very allergic to cats. He also pretty much can't stand them (he's a dog man). But, he saw how much joy and comfort the cat, now named Tiger, brought to Hannah, and he agreed to let her stay with us as an outside cat if Hannah took responsibility for feeding, litter box training, cleaning, etc. It's been a few weeks now, and Hannah has kept up her end of the deal. So, I took Tiger in for a check-up at the vet's office last week, which was no small feat for me. It was the first time I've EVER taken an animal to the vet; I was totally clueless.

You see, I had a puppy when I was about 10, just after my parents divorced. My dad got him for me, and I loved that animal more than my own brother. I doted on my puppy every chance I had, brushing his fur daily, letting him sleep next to me in bed, and keeping him by my side constantly. Then one day I went to my dad's house for visitation, and he was nowhere to be found. My dad broke the news to me that he'd accidentally run over Fuzzball (he was a cinnamon-colored mini-chow) when he darted out the front door after hearing my dad pull into the driveway. I still remember how devastated I was. I cried the entire weekend, but ultimately concluded with the decision that I would never own another pet because I couldn't stand to go through a loss like that again.

Fast forward to the present...The vet gave Tiger a clean bill of health, her first set of vaccinations and a worm pill, and she gave me an estimate on Tiger's age (approximtely 6-12 months). This means that she'll need to be spayed before we leave for the States on Dec. 17th, otherwise we could return to a very pregnant kitty. Hubby was not happy to hear that Tiger would need to be kept indoors in an enclosed area for 2 days after her surgery to make sure she heals properly and doesn't rip her stitches. We agreed that she'll stay in Hannah's room, but he feels like the whole cat situation has "snowballed" into something he didn't sign up for. Don't know what I can say or do there...

But, we're officially invested. We've arranged for the compound manager to feed and check on the cat while we're gone for the holiday break. Now we just have to hope that Tiger won't miss us so much that she decides to run off and find a new family. Hannah would be just as devasted as I was, and that would break my heart all over again.