I don't have kids. I think I spent so much time trying to not have them, that once I wanted one, it might be too late. So I have a cat. Now I'm not some crazy cat lady, just a fan of the furry little ones.
I have this friend Ben, and he and his lady found a litter of kittens last summer in a trash can in the parking lot of their apartment. My dad was dying, I just went through a shitty divorce, realized I had feelings for my best friend, I was falling apart on the inside....I needed a non-judgmental friend. So I adopted the little dude. I named him Papi Chulo because that is what I called my father, seemed fitting and right. Ben and his lady kept two of his litter mates, and my other good friend, Caitlin, adopted his brother. We kept the family, "in the family".
So over the last year, we had this weird pseudo experiment happening, where a litter of kittens grew up apart, but with people that know each other and could report on similarities, growth, habits, etc. I learned that Papi and Tay, (Caitlin's cat), both will ONLY drink from coffee cups. They both chew on their nails.....they also both are obsessed with the outdoors. I knew that Caitlin let Tay out most of the day and he did fine, so my partner and I decided to start letting Papi out into the fenced back yard. He LOVED it, and never tried to hop the fence.
Then one day, Papi started to puke.....and puke, and puke. My partner and I were up all night, trying to figure out what was up. I was a vet tech for many years, so I thought he had something stuck in his belly, so I checked under his tongue for string or something, and nothing. The next day we took him to the vet, and sure enough, he had a linear foreign body. Pretty much the worst kind of block. They told us that he would either need surgery, or be put to sleep. As I stood there petting him and sobbing, the vet said they could try one thing that might help, and was $500 less than the surgery that my partner and I knew we could never afford. They did this barium study where they feed him this paste that shows up on x-rays, and can see if the blockage is moving, and how bad the block is. It can also sometimes act therapeutically.
Papi came home with us, after having been at the vet all day, totally lethargic, and us unsure if he was going to be put down the next day. It was a very long night.
The next day we took him back to the vet so they could do the study, and the vet said he would call me throughout the day to keep me posted as to how or if the barium was working. I was a hot mess, sobbing off and on and at random. Having been a vet tech for years, I had to euthanize many, many, many animals. Every time, I would whisper into the animals ear, "I'm sorry", even if they were already near death. It just seemed like the right thing to do. Being native, I don't believe in "God", I believe in our creator and our ancestors. I also feel like euthanasia is humane and I wish humans had the option for a dignified exit instead of suffering, but that is a whole other post. Anyway, I never felt guilty, I just felt sad for the humans left behind. Especially kids. Now I found myself on the other side of death, and was torn.
Then in a stroke of brilliance, Caitlin, Ben, and Shana told us to set up a PayPal fund for Papi, and we did. In 24 hours we raised $500, and a renewed feeling of community, something I have not felt here in Portland in years. Then we got the call, the barium worked, Papi would pass the blockage and be ok. I have never felt so relived in my life.
We drove like bats out of hell to the vet to pick up our little fat ball of black fluff, and hugged and pet him so much, we had fur all over our hands. This cat is NOT a shedder either. A day after he came home, Papi was back to his normal, chatty, weird cat self. Playing fetch with his fish, chewing on his nails, and waking us up at 3 am for no real reason. No matter how much he annoys me and my partner in the wee hours of the morning, I would rather have him around. He is the closest thing I have to a child, and he is totally a part of our tiny family.
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