Kate the Cat

Before hubs and kids, there was Kate. Kate is my nearly 11 year old fur-baby cat who I adopted one Sunday morning in 2007 after a long night out with friends in my old neighborhood, Edison Park. My best friend, J and I adopted sister cats. It was a great addition to our *almost* uninhabitable apartment. S, our other roommate and dear best friend was the smartest out of the group and was pretty accurate when she said it was a really bad idea at the time. 🙂 

Kate has lived in 4 city apartments, 1 condo, 1 suburban apartment, two houses, and a brief stint in New York City. She has boarded a plane with me, been my therapy through a painful ovarian cancer diagnosis for my mom, and has welcomed creature after creature into our home all while letting everyone know that she is BOSS. 

Kate is big boned and very snuggly. She has had a FUPA since she was 6 months old and prefers that no one looks at it. (I get you, girl!) She is SUPER low maintenance. She prefers that her litter is scooped just once per week, and is a very clean girl. When she was my only child, I worried about her when she wouldn’t eat the fresh shrimp I brought her from whole foods. (insert huge eye roll here) I took her to the cat specialty clinic more than once because I was convinced that cats got the flu just like humans and that is why she wasn’t eating. I cant believe I am writing this, but I took off work one time to stay home with her  and take her to the vet when she wasn’t eating enough. I was a cat lady. 

Hubs, K and L came into our lives when Kate was around 5. She made sure they all knew that she was boss, and still does to this day. She is much gentler with the kids than she is anyone else. The day we brought S home, she sniffed her, hissed and then curled up as if to say “I get it, but I don’t have to like it.” 

Last week, Kate came up to me on Tuesday morning and was rubbing her head on my arm. I shrugged her off and she came up again. That is when I noticed it. She had patches of hair missing all over her body! OMG my cat is dying and I didn’t know it! How long has this been going on?! When the heck is the last time she went to the vet?!? Holy crap. I need a vet. How am I going to tell the kids their cat is sick? Cat was B’s second word! Ok. Stop the panicking. Get. It. Together. Go Facebook area vets to see where we can take her today.

After pouring her into the cat crate, (she literally takes up every square inch of the thing), we got her into a local vet for all the missing hair. When she hopped on the scale, it read 7.5. OMG she is dying for real. Kate normally weights 17-18! OMG I am the worst cat mom ever. Has she been dying for years? Oh wait- that was Kg, not lbs. Ok. Just under 16 lbs. Not bad, Kate. The stairs at the new house are doing you a solid. Vet resumes checkup. 

Turns out, she just had some skin irritation. My guess is that she got a hold of some insulation in the basement and was playing with it. Man, am I glad she is all good, but I went right back into crazy cat lady panic after not giving her health a second thought in 5+ years. She got her shots and we were on our way with instructions to come back in a couple days if the patches of fur didn’t heal up. They did. She is totally fine. We didn’t see her for a solid 2 days likely due to her being pissed off that we made her leave the house. 

Our vet told us when S was born that your pets are your babies until your babies come and then they become your pets. But they are still my babies. They are much more self sufficient than before kids, but they are my babies. Though she is the least maintenance being in the house, Kate is my homegirl. She has been there longer than anyone I live with now, and is really a loyal gal. Thank goodness this isn’t the end for her. The vet also told us that he has a cat that looks just like her that is 18, so I’m pretty sure Kate is the 25 year commitment that I signed up for all those years ago.