It’s been over a year since my dog Trumpy and the neighbor’s horse was put down and I’m still not right about it. I’m not sure that losing a pet is something you ever completely get over.
I really don’t know how this conversation started, but my husband started looking into new pets over the late summer…mainly cats. We talked about Bengal cats before in passing, mainly because my friend/pen pal Jacqui has two rescue Bengals. I talked about the funny antics they get into and their intelligence level (a.k.a. basically Gabby in feline form). I guess at some point, this sold my husband and he began researching them and looking into breeders. Really, I’m not sure how this whole process got started. I just know, one day we had no pets in the house (besides a guppy fish tank) and the next we had put down a payment at a breeder for a cat.
My daughter always wanted a cat. I secretly always wanted a cat too, however, I am HIGHLY allergic to cats to the point that my throat closes when I’m around them. For this reason, cats were never a pet I seriously considered. I don’t want to die, thankyouverymuch. I was also extremely worried about my son who has been plagued with breathing and skin issues since he was 6 months old.
Well first of all, and this is all based completely on my Internet research*, there is no such thing as a hypoallergenic cat. They all have saliva and they all have dander. Dander and saliva are the two biggest things that humans can develop an allergy to. And no, I’m not sitting here and spending 8 bazillionty hours researching why. You have Google. Use it. I’m not a cat scientist or veterinarian. At any rate, after spending several weeks with this cat, we haven’t had any MAJOR medical reactions to him.**
At his first vet appointment, the front office spelled our cat’s name as “Rugby”. STOP THE PRESSES. He’s a Davies! The cat’s name is actually “Rigby” based on the Regular Show character, but based on the track record of misspellings with our names, this makes him fit right in.
(Rigby, Regular Show)
Many people spell my name with one L. Wrong. It’s always been two. Many people call Gabrielle “GABRIEL” or “Gabriella”. Also wrong. All of us have been called “DAVIS” at one point or another. Again. Wrong. It’s Davies. There’s an E in there, please don’t ignore it.
Alright, I’ll shut up and show you the thing the Internet was truly invented for….CAT PICTURES.***
(Five seconds before I snapped this photo he was dive bombing my slipper)
(He’s on the hunt for my foot, however, I’m a terrible cat mom…I gave him a plastic bag to play with)
(The damn thing only likes sleeping on my desk)
You can find more obnoxious cat photos and videos on my Instagram, Youtube and Flickr. See you there! If you want to learn more about Bengal cats and their bratty behavior, check out Bengals Illustrated.
*Alert: Take this with a grain of salt.
**I’ve broken out in hives and have swollen up after he’s scratched me.
***With apologies to Al Gore and Mike Burnside.