Let’s start from the beginning, for before there was anything that existed of this subject, there was the Word. And the word was Mouse (or Mice, rather accurately). Mice freely came to our apartment in East Harlem, New York City. For folks outside Gotham or urban centers, it may sound shocking. For New Yorkers of humble means: “What else is new, right?!” Vermin are just…vermin. But, Heather and I got really sick of them. We tried traps. They only work so long as you can keep on changing them, and mice reproduce so quickly that it’s a never-ending war. We tried sealing holes. They work but somehow, there’s always a an opening somewhere you can’t figure out. I mean, especially when you have mice who dislocate their bones to go into tight spaces.
I said to Heather, “We need to borrow a cat.”
She said, “What?! Who’s going to let you borrow their cat?!” I said, how about C-, he’s a nice guy who has a cat. We asked C-, a real fine gentleman friend from our church, All Souls. He agreed to do so for a week and would have lent him for more, but we knew to not be gauche. He lent us Rorty, named after a famed theologian (C- got his PhD in Theology, so he knows these things). Rorty was a wonder. He is of large and cuddle size. When I say cuddle I don’t lie; he let himself be picked up and caressed, and he laid with us when we slept, by my legs, in fact. He also enjoyed laying on the thresholds, by door opening corners, having liminal feline meditations. An intellectual is he.
It only took hours for Rorty to find and hunt the mice…and lick them to “death”. Though, I am not a necrophiliac nor have homocidephilia, I was glad to see Rorty on the attack. It was like watching a National Geographic video, but in the live. It was most amazing how these domestic creatures have not lost their hunter instincts. He got rid of our vermin.
I fell in love with the cat’s hunting spirit, but what I had not realized until afterward was that I fell in love with petting Rorty – that was a bonus that made a difference in having his visit.
We gave Rorty back to C-, as the week had passed by.
Months passed, as they do when you take notice. No mice. Didn’t miss them! Yet, we missed something, didn’t we? Yes. No cuddling creature!
Now, I had grown up with animals. I was raised in my grandparents’ farm in El Salvador until I was about 5 years old. Animals were always about me, cows, sheep, horses, roosters, chickens, goats, rabbits, spiders, frogs, ants, dogs…but I never actually slept with one. Yes, it does sound silly, but I never experienced the “petting” needs of an animal or a human. I only came to realize that here, of all places, the concrete jungle of New York, and with a borrowed cat, nonetheless. I guess everything is possible in New York City, after all!
Well, two weeks ago, Heather got an email titled “25 Cats of X-mass”, a promotion from Bideawee, a humane organization that provides shelter, care and compassion to homeless animals. The promotion entitled a prospective adoptive parent the benefits of owning an older cat with no adoption fee and a free year of vet-care. We said, “Well, this is a no-brainer, is it?!”
We went to the Bideawee on East 38th Street, between First Avenue and FDR Drive. So many cute cats to see. The promo was to get older cats into people’s homes. The fact is that most future-cat-owners are looking for kitties. Me being innocent about the process didn’t understand the intricacies of what this meant; I only found out a few weeks ago that 18 years is equivalent to old in cat-age.
So many cute cats (again), we saw. There was Sundance, the playful tiger-cat. K- from Bideawee said that would be a great cat for someone who was looking for a dog as he was huge and loved to be rough-and-tumble, great to play with, but would be a teenager, getting on top of tables knocking your dishes and cutlery, and requiring discipline – it was appealing actually, but the bigger requirement was cuddling for us. There was Twilight, a dark-haired sweetie that enjoyed being the center of attention. Such soft fur had he. There was Diane, who scratched me when I pet her head. I thought, maybe not her. There was Carly, who had these distinctive spots on her face. She was sweet, but shy. We saw Opie upstairs, and she hissed at us, which was attractive in an interesting way, but didn’t hit the spot. They were all adorable, but we hadn’t found the one. And then…they showed us Jeena.
It was automatic chemistry between us three. They had her in a cage because she couldn’t be with the other cats. She came out and instantly came on to my lap. I proceeded to pet her back and head, which she was very happy to accept, giving us the kitty-closed-eyes look of, “gimme more.” Heather said, "I think somebody's in love.” Heather could have been talking about all three of us. She's a major cuddler—one of our requirements!
Her personal story is quite sad but hopeful. She was found in a dumpster in a bag with toxic chemicals—she had 2nd and 3rd Degree burns. The Department of Animal Care & Control thought about putting her to sleep because she was in much suffering, especially with the burns, but they called Bideawee and asked them if they could treat her for the chemical burns. Bideawee said, Yes! The staff at the shelter saved and rehabilitated her, and they did a fine job. Distinctive white hair has grown in the scars she had. And she trusts people—she’s quite social with our species. It’s really amazing the work that the folks at Bideawee did. In any case, she's a Bombay mix; her birthdate is April ‘07, and her name “Jeena,” means Survivor in Hindi, which we find appropriate and cute, so we are letting her keep her name (as if we would have a choice!).
We brought her home last Thursday and she has taken to love our little apartment, but more than anything, she can’t get enough of our petting, just as we can’t get enough either. I’m satisfied to say that she’ll be included in my bio for my first book; I should have known there was a reason for the publishing delay.
This is the story of our cat-owning genesis. Heather and I are happy to report that the new word is Cat. Amen and Blessed be.
