I got an 8.
My brother's current hobby is inflicting color tests on the family. Have an infuriating hue test.
ANYWAY I THREATENED TO TELL THE STORY OF MY CUDDLE KITTY TODAY so I am here to make good on it.
I am actually kind of really surprised I haven't written this before? But so, long time followers remember the horrible, horrible drama that happened with my previous cat. We're not here to talk about that.
A little over a year ago, about mid-January, the 3x former assistant manager of my department (she was already working in seafood when I transferred to this store, but she came over to the bakery a lot, so I still knew her fairly well. Then she transferred to a completely different store) came into the store. She wanted to talk to our manager! Because, see, about 9 years ago, Manager took a cat in off the streets, and the cat had KITTENS! And she rehomed most of them, though she did keep one furball. His name is Vicious and he is afraid of laser pointers after biting himself hard in his attempt to catch the little red bug.
One of the adorable kitties went to the sister of this former AM! And they named her Sazy. And for a few years, she was their baby and they loved her.
Aaand then they had a human baby.
SO THEY CUT HER TOES OFF because can't have the cat clawing the baby, oh, no. Well, Sazaroo did not like this, and she did not like the baby, because the baby was loud, and the baby took all of their time, and also the baby learned to crawl and walk and the baby liked to pick on her and of course she had to way to defend herself. She spent a long few months, perhaps a year or two, hiding in closets and under beds and not often emerging, because the baby distressed her greatly, and they did not do much of anything to reassure her that she was still loved and important.
But eventually she was like, okay. Okay, I can deal with this. I do not like being tormented by the small human, but I miss my people, and I miss not skulking around my own house.
And she came back out! Yay! Everyone's happy!
Aaaaaand then they had another baby!
So now she had another screaming horror to deal with, and as the second kid grew, they started tag-teaming her (I admit my brother and I did our fair share of picking on our cats growing up, but when they'd had enough, they'd hiss and then swipe at us and we learned pretty fast where the lines were) and scaring her and hurting her and she went back to hiding all the time and being afraid and lonely and everything was terrible and also she took to crapping on the carpets in the kids' room in some sort of attempt to assert herself, but that didn't work and just got her in more trouble and GEEZ WHY WON'T YOU BEHAVE YOU DAMN FELINE.
And they decided teaching their children respect for animals was too much damn work, so let's just get rid of her.
But who would take a cat who shits everywhere? So they didn't really explore that route. Their local shelter had no room, they said the best they could do was take her and put her down for them, and they were like, no, that is okay. If she must die, we will do it on our own terms!
Soooo, back to mid-January, the former assistant had come in to tell my manager that they had decided they were going to kill her via blowing her head off with a rifle (WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE) and since Sazy had come from my manager, she might like to know this saddest fate of the fuzzy kitty.
AND INDEED THIS WAS VERY SAD! And it would have been sadder, still, if my most awesomest coworker had not gone over to see what was going on that there was a long, sad-faced conversation between the two of them.
And then after former AM left, she was retelling it to me, and I was getting my rage on about the injustice of it all, I would have taken the poor thing, geez, surely someone else would do the same, and she was suddenly like.
Wait.
You still need a new cat.
And then she bolted out of the store to catch the FAM before she could actually get anywhere and was like WAIT COME BACK JECCA NEEDS A CAT SHE WILL TAKE THE CAT
Sooo my contact info was passed onto the not-good owners, and they contacted me, and were like, well, she's a miserable beast who shits everywhere and never comes out anymore and also she smells bad.
And I was like fuck that, don't kill her. GIVE IT TO MEEEE.
AND SO. A year ago today, they all four of them put Sazy in her carrier and piled in the car and drove the hour+ to my apartment (with the kids poking at her aaaaaugh) and were like HERE IS THIS CAT.
ALSO HER SUPPLIES.
...Her supplies were: 3 - or maybe just 2? - pipecleaners twisted into corkscrews (these were her only toys), a cat bed (way, waaay too small for her), a plastic water bowl, a plastic kibble bowl, some glass wet food dishes, and a nasty, way too shallow box for litter. As well as some kibble, a few cans of wet food, and a bit of litter.
And it was fucking cheap cat food, let me tell you. You wonder why she smells? Maybe it's because you're feeding her total crap. It is just an idea.
Also it was terrible litter, too. No sticking or clumping, no odor control, no nothing.
As the mom told me about the trials of this cat, I watched the little girl poke and tease at Sazy through the slots of the carrier. Mom did nothing to dissuade her until the kid was like, Sazy is hiding! Why is Sazy hiding? And then all she did was say, because Sazy doesn't like you, honey.
AWESOME PARENTING?
(They had tucked a little towel in the crate with her, and she was so scared she had actually scrabbled the towel up and was attempting to hide under it. It was not effective.)
I was home for the day with the flu, so after they left, I set up her little box, set out some water and a bit of kibble, and set her crate in a corner, opened it, and left her alone.
Well, okay, first I said something that was probably along the lines of, hey, little baby! Hello, Sazy! Don't worry. You are safe here.
AND THEN SHE DID NOT COME OUT FOR A WHILE.
She would not come out while the crate was in the corner of the living room (where I was camped, on account of that being where the heater is). She would not come out while in the kitchen. She did briefly come out while the crate was in the bathroom (where we'd originally set up her litter box), but then she immediately dug herself into the closet right next to it, which was something of a hazard and death trap and I was scared she'd get stuck or something and tried to peek at her and she got scared and ran back into her crate. So then I barricaded the closet a bit more and moved her crate into my room. At some point she left and crept around the apartment, slow and meek and obviously very, very nervous and afraid. Poor baby!
Then she hid under my bed. So I opened a can of tuna and gave her the water. It is the best way to befriend a cat. And it worked really well! She latched onto me pretty quick (really quick. I was surprised by how fast she was willing to sit on the bed with me and let me pet her).
And now! Well. She is still pretty wary, loud noises or sudden movements still freak her out sometimes, and she is terrified of the doorbell, but! She no longer has massive mats in her fur from crouching and hiding in small, awkward places all day and night! And her fur is so soft and nice, and she doesn't smell bad, because she is eating good food! Good, delicious food that she is always eager for. And she has treats! And a squeaky toy mouse! And feathers to chase! And she has seen a vet (first time in like five years) and been given a clean bill of health! AND she has even let people who are not me pet her!
And she uses her litter box with no problems whatsoever because she is a good cat. No matter what those people who wanted to shoot her head off said.
(Although she STILL hates the newer roommate, but whatever. XD)
And so that is the happy ending story (... so far) of my kitty! She is my darling. She is spoiled miserably. I wuv herrrrr.
IN UNRELATED NEWS I have just learnt that at some point in the recentish past, the original FFXIV servers went down FOR. EVER. Remember they rebooted them after the apocalypse for the people who said they still wanted to play, but I guess things finally dropped below a 30% log-in rate. I am... really weirdly sad about this. It's not like I've been logging in, but it was still, you know, that wonderful world I'd come to love was still there, even if it canonically isn't. It was kinda, I dunno, comforting, I guess. But now it's really gone, gone, and I can never, ever see it ever again. (yeah yeah chill the hug out it's just a video game jecca geez)... Also I still cry like the emotionally unstable lunatic I am when I watch the "End of the Era" video.
... also female roegadyn are hardcore badass and I find myself wondering if I won't have to start a second character just to play as one because holy crap.
[Crossposted from DW. Comments:
]
ANYWAY I THREATENED TO TELL THE STORY OF MY CUDDLE KITTY TODAY so I am here to make good on it.
I am actually kind of really surprised I haven't written this before? But so, long time followers remember the horrible, horrible drama that happened with my previous cat. We're not here to talk about that.
A little over a year ago, about mid-January, the 3x former assistant manager of my department (she was already working in seafood when I transferred to this store, but she came over to the bakery a lot, so I still knew her fairly well. Then she transferred to a completely different store) came into the store. She wanted to talk to our manager! Because, see, about 9 years ago, Manager took a cat in off the streets, and the cat had KITTENS! And she rehomed most of them, though she did keep one furball. His name is Vicious and he is afraid of laser pointers after biting himself hard in his attempt to catch the little red bug.
One of the adorable kitties went to the sister of this former AM! And they named her Sazy. And for a few years, she was their baby and they loved her.
Aaand then they had a human baby.
SO THEY CUT HER TOES OFF because can't have the cat clawing the baby, oh, no. Well, Sazaroo did not like this, and she did not like the baby, because the baby was loud, and the baby took all of their time, and also the baby learned to crawl and walk and the baby liked to pick on her and of course she had to way to defend herself. She spent a long few months, perhaps a year or two, hiding in closets and under beds and not often emerging, because the baby distressed her greatly, and they did not do much of anything to reassure her that she was still loved and important.
But eventually she was like, okay. Okay, I can deal with this. I do not like being tormented by the small human, but I miss my people, and I miss not skulking around my own house.
And she came back out! Yay! Everyone's happy!
Aaaaaand then they had another baby!
So now she had another screaming horror to deal with, and as the second kid grew, they started tag-teaming her (I admit my brother and I did our fair share of picking on our cats growing up, but when they'd had enough, they'd hiss and then swipe at us and we learned pretty fast where the lines were) and scaring her and hurting her and she went back to hiding all the time and being afraid and lonely and everything was terrible and also she took to crapping on the carpets in the kids' room in some sort of attempt to assert herself, but that didn't work and just got her in more trouble and GEEZ WHY WON'T YOU BEHAVE YOU DAMN FELINE.
And they decided teaching their children respect for animals was too much damn work, so let's just get rid of her.
But who would take a cat who shits everywhere? So they didn't really explore that route. Their local shelter had no room, they said the best they could do was take her and put her down for them, and they were like, no, that is okay. If she must die, we will do it on our own terms!
Soooo, back to mid-January, the former assistant had come in to tell my manager that they had decided they were going to kill her via blowing her head off with a rifle (WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE) and since Sazy had come from my manager, she might like to know this saddest fate of the fuzzy kitty.
AND INDEED THIS WAS VERY SAD! And it would have been sadder, still, if my most awesomest coworker had not gone over to see what was going on that there was a long, sad-faced conversation between the two of them.
And then after former AM left, she was retelling it to me, and I was getting my rage on about the injustice of it all, I would have taken the poor thing, geez, surely someone else would do the same, and she was suddenly like.
Wait.
You still need a new cat.
And then she bolted out of the store to catch the FAM before she could actually get anywhere and was like WAIT COME BACK JECCA NEEDS A CAT SHE WILL TAKE THE CAT
Sooo my contact info was passed onto the not-good owners, and they contacted me, and were like, well, she's a miserable beast who shits everywhere and never comes out anymore and also she smells bad.
And I was like fuck that, don't kill her. GIVE IT TO MEEEE.
AND SO. A year ago today, they all four of them put Sazy in her carrier and piled in the car and drove the hour+ to my apartment (with the kids poking at her aaaaaugh) and were like HERE IS THIS CAT.
ALSO HER SUPPLIES.
...Her supplies were: 3 - or maybe just 2? - pipecleaners twisted into corkscrews (these were her only toys), a cat bed (way, waaay too small for her), a plastic water bowl, a plastic kibble bowl, some glass wet food dishes, and a nasty, way too shallow box for litter. As well as some kibble, a few cans of wet food, and a bit of litter.
And it was fucking cheap cat food, let me tell you. You wonder why she smells? Maybe it's because you're feeding her total crap. It is just an idea.
Also it was terrible litter, too. No sticking or clumping, no odor control, no nothing.
As the mom told me about the trials of this cat, I watched the little girl poke and tease at Sazy through the slots of the carrier. Mom did nothing to dissuade her until the kid was like, Sazy is hiding! Why is Sazy hiding? And then all she did was say, because Sazy doesn't like you, honey.
AWESOME PARENTING?
(They had tucked a little towel in the crate with her, and she was so scared she had actually scrabbled the towel up and was attempting to hide under it. It was not effective.)
I was home for the day with the flu, so after they left, I set up her little box, set out some water and a bit of kibble, and set her crate in a corner, opened it, and left her alone.
Well, okay, first I said something that was probably along the lines of, hey, little baby! Hello, Sazy! Don't worry. You are safe here.
AND THEN SHE DID NOT COME OUT FOR A WHILE.
She would not come out while the crate was in the corner of the living room (where I was camped, on account of that being where the heater is). She would not come out while in the kitchen. She did briefly come out while the crate was in the bathroom (where we'd originally set up her litter box), but then she immediately dug herself into the closet right next to it, which was something of a hazard and death trap and I was scared she'd get stuck or something and tried to peek at her and she got scared and ran back into her crate. So then I barricaded the closet a bit more and moved her crate into my room. At some point she left and crept around the apartment, slow and meek and obviously very, very nervous and afraid. Poor baby!
Then she hid under my bed. So I opened a can of tuna and gave her the water. It is the best way to befriend a cat. And it worked really well! She latched onto me pretty quick (really quick. I was surprised by how fast she was willing to sit on the bed with me and let me pet her).
And now! Well. She is still pretty wary, loud noises or sudden movements still freak her out sometimes, and she is terrified of the doorbell, but! She no longer has massive mats in her fur from crouching and hiding in small, awkward places all day and night! And her fur is so soft and nice, and she doesn't smell bad, because she is eating good food! Good, delicious food that she is always eager for. And she has treats! And a squeaky toy mouse! And feathers to chase! And she has seen a vet (first time in like five years) and been given a clean bill of health! AND she has even let people who are not me pet her!
And she uses her litter box with no problems whatsoever because she is a good cat. No matter what those people who wanted to shoot her head off said.
(Although she STILL hates the newer roommate, but whatever. XD)
And so that is the happy ending story (... so far) of my kitty! She is my darling. She is spoiled miserably. I wuv herrrrr.
IN UNRELATED NEWS I have just learnt that at some point in the recentish past, the original FFXIV servers went down FOR. EVER. Remember they rebooted them after the apocalypse for the people who said they still wanted to play, but I guess things finally dropped below a 30% log-in rate. I am... really weirdly sad about this. It's not like I've been logging in, but it was still, you know, that wonderful world I'd come to love was still there, even if it canonically isn't. It was kinda, I dunno, comforting, I guess. But now it's really gone, gone, and I can never, ever see it ever again. (yeah yeah chill the hug out it's just a video game jecca geez)... Also I still cry like the emotionally unstable lunatic I am when I watch the "End of the Era" video.
... also female roegadyn are hardcore badass and I find myself wondering if I won't have to start a second character just to play as one because holy crap.
[Crossposted from DW. Comments:
]