Thursday, February 19, 2009

all products from smoke-free, pet-free home


When we moved to Wisconsin I was newly pregnant and vomiting. A lot. It was about-15 degrees outside and dark and I didn't know anyone. Needless to say, depressing. After about 6 weeks of this I insisted that Ty provide me with the cat I had always wanted to keep me company. Off we went to the shelter and came home with not one, but two lovely kitties. They were brother and sister and ten years old. They were huge, snuggly and affectionate. They slept in our bed and curled around me when I lay on the bathroom floor waiting for the next wave of nausea to hit. I loved them. When Tommy finally joined us they were wonderful with him as well. I have all sorts of photos of the three of them all curled up together. Two years later after a long fight with cat diabetes (including insulin shots from me) Frank passed on. When we moved to Kansas, we were moving into corporate housing for an unspecified amount of time and decided to give Libby away to friends rather than subject her to the trauma. I was sad, but it was a lot easier that way. When Tommy was first allergy tested just after his second birthday he was allergic to dogs and many other things, but not cats. The Doc theorized that this was due to the fact that he had always been around them. We have lived here now for two years without any pets. Today we visited a woman in our church congregation, normally I wouldn't have taken Tommy, but the schedule just didn't work. He was really well- behaved. He even petted the her cats politely. As we left I noticed him rubbing his eyes, by the time we reached the main road he was covered in hives. This progressed along the usual lines into a full-blown allergic reaction. Thank goodness for Benedryl. My poor, pale, allergic little monkey. The result of today's little episode is that our home will remain, a pet-free zone because I don't believe in fish.

7 comments:

Carrie said...

Poor Tommy! Jake feels the same way about fish. :)

Regi said...

poor baby! seriously what would we do without benedryl?

Amber said...

Such sad eyes, who knew cats could do that?

Linn said...

My eyes are seriously watering looking at that. Poor, sweet boy. I am also allergic to cats and that is how I react. A few weeks ago we were at a friend's house and he had put the cat's in the other room, as he usually does when he has visitors. Neverthless, I must have touched something at his house with cat hair on it and then touched my eyes. By the time we got home, my eyes were so red and swollen I could not even see. It is horrible! I feel so bad for Tommy!

Dena said...

Ohhh, My poor little grandson, so good and so brave. I sent you a surprise that will cheer you up. I love you so much.

Nena

Reluctant Nomad said...

so so sorry. I heart benedryl. A few months ago, we visited some friends and brought the boys with us. About 30 minutes after arriving, Mr. Furious (he has special, super-secret, very loud and angry superpowers) started rubbing his eyes and coughing. His face got red. By the time we realized it was serious, his throat was starting to close up and his whole body was covered in hives. Uggggg....he's never reacted that badly before. Someone mentioned that it could be the 'type' of cat that affected him so intensely. Hmmm... Anyway,we're the freaky, allergic-to-everything family around here too. We need to start some kind of commune.

Nate and Di said...

That is the saddest little face.