Cat Mom vs Baby Mom
Back in April, my husband and I adopted a cat from a neighbor. His name is Dave and he's a Tabby.
He was rescued from the streets of Dubai and has a snipped ear to prove it. (Street cats get snipped ears here to say they've been vaccinated and are safe to adopt).
Suffice to say the cat wasn't well looked after by this neighbor. Without going into too many details, the neighbor just couldn't be bothered to take the cat to the vet (he's not been in five years). During this time he developed a very bad cough. It's inflammation of the larynx or something like that. It sounds like bronchitis and he does it several times a day. It's painful to watch.
When I asked the neighbor about this cough the only answer I got was that he coughs for a bit and then later he's fine so he was never taken to the vet for it because - yeah he's just a cat so who cares?
Well hubby and I knew this wasn't some hairball type of situation and took him to the vet right away. And yeah, the vet said he was in bad condition. His gums were inflamed, his throat was on fire, and he was overweight.
He was put on medication at that point and he seemed to get better. He wasn't moping or anything before, so we just noticed he stopped coughing and that made us happy.
Unfortunately, we were away for six weeks this summer and the person who was looking after him not only overfed him (he was at least 2-3 kilos heavier when we got back), but he also left him under a very cold air conditioning.
So his cough came back with a vengeance.
We took him back to the vet and are starting him on another round of antibiotics. He does NOT like taking these pills and is very stubborn about it. I mix it in his food and he'll go half the day without eating it to the point where he's just starving and finally gives in a little.
In the meantime, at night and in the early morning when we're trying to sleep, he wakes us up every hour on the hour because he's bloody hungry. And it pisses. me. off.
I can't tell you how much I want to shake that cat silly and hopefully knock some sense into it.
"Hey buddy. We're trying to help you. Eat your damn food!"
But there's no reasoning with that friggin cat.
Which brings me to the point of this post.
What the hell am I going to do when my newborn starts up and possibly goes for hours? Am I going to be just as impatient? Slamming doors and throwing things? How do moms deal with the endless crying from a tiny thing that cannot be reasoned with? These questions genuinely scare me.
A lot of my fear of becoming a new mom is consumed by the idea that I just won't have enough patience. I'm in my thirties and up until now, I've only had to look after myself. What is going to happen when I start having to put this little person's needs before my own?
I wasn't shown much patience growing up. I don't know what it looks like from a parent, to be honest. So where's this 'natural' instinct gonna come from? Clearly, the practice with my cat isn't going great.
No worries though. I have never and will never shake him or throw things at him. I only raise my voice occasionally, but too much anyway if I should say so. But I think about smacking him. Even daydream about it. And that scares me.
xo Jenea
- Everything is always okay in the end; and if it's not okay, then it's not the end.
He was rescued from the streets of Dubai and has a snipped ear to prove it. (Street cats get snipped ears here to say they've been vaccinated and are safe to adopt).
Suffice to say the cat wasn't well looked after by this neighbor. Without going into too many details, the neighbor just couldn't be bothered to take the cat to the vet (he's not been in five years). During this time he developed a very bad cough. It's inflammation of the larynx or something like that. It sounds like bronchitis and he does it several times a day. It's painful to watch.
When I asked the neighbor about this cough the only answer I got was that he coughs for a bit and then later he's fine so he was never taken to the vet for it because - yeah he's just a cat so who cares?
Well hubby and I knew this wasn't some hairball type of situation and took him to the vet right away. And yeah, the vet said he was in bad condition. His gums were inflamed, his throat was on fire, and he was overweight.
He was put on medication at that point and he seemed to get better. He wasn't moping or anything before, so we just noticed he stopped coughing and that made us happy.
Unfortunately, we were away for six weeks this summer and the person who was looking after him not only overfed him (he was at least 2-3 kilos heavier when we got back), but he also left him under a very cold air conditioning.
So his cough came back with a vengeance.
We took him back to the vet and are starting him on another round of antibiotics. He does NOT like taking these pills and is very stubborn about it. I mix it in his food and he'll go half the day without eating it to the point where he's just starving and finally gives in a little.
In the meantime, at night and in the early morning when we're trying to sleep, he wakes us up every hour on the hour because he's bloody hungry. And it pisses. me. off.
I can't tell you how much I want to shake that cat silly and hopefully knock some sense into it.
"Hey buddy. We're trying to help you. Eat your damn food!"
But there's no reasoning with that friggin cat.
Which brings me to the point of this post.
What the hell am I going to do when my newborn starts up and possibly goes for hours? Am I going to be just as impatient? Slamming doors and throwing things? How do moms deal with the endless crying from a tiny thing that cannot be reasoned with? These questions genuinely scare me.
A lot of my fear of becoming a new mom is consumed by the idea that I just won't have enough patience. I'm in my thirties and up until now, I've only had to look after myself. What is going to happen when I start having to put this little person's needs before my own?
I wasn't shown much patience growing up. I don't know what it looks like from a parent, to be honest. So where's this 'natural' instinct gonna come from? Clearly, the practice with my cat isn't going great.
No worries though. I have never and will never shake him or throw things at him. I only raise my voice occasionally, but too much anyway if I should say so. But I think about smacking him. Even daydream about it. And that scares me.
xo Jenea
- Everything is always okay in the end; and if it's not okay, then it's not the end.
Comments
Post a Comment