I love animals...probably too much. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy eating them, but I still have a HUGE soft spot. This started at a very early age. I was traumatized by Lassie, I got nervous every time I watched Flipper, and don't even get me started on E.T. Needless to say, my pets have always been very special to me. My empathy for animals was only dulled by the birth of my own human children!
I have always had animals, and from the age of 5, I've always had a cat. Misty was a Christmas present. She lived until I was 20. I grieved for her like I would a family member. A month after she died, I got married. A month after that my husband and I adopted Toby. Toby lived until the age 0f 7, when he got very sick and we had to put him to sleep. After that loss, I decided I was done with cats! Of course, that feeling didn't stick, and two Christmases ago, my husband gave me Goliath. He was a tiny fur-ball. He's a Himalayan Persian with big blue eyes. I fell in love. At the time, I was pregnant with my 3rd child. I had almost 5 months left in my pregnancy, and so I had time to really bond with my new "baby" and he definitely loved sleeping on my pregnant belly!
After the birth of my baby girl, he reacted typically. But things really changed when the baby became a crawler. The cat decided that my new baby was an intrusion and that he was not going to take it anymore. That's when the real trouble started. He turned our house into his litter box! The couch, the playpen, the kitchen counters, the older kids backpacks, MY BED!! You name it, he peed on it. I was horrified. I took him to the vet, but there was nothing medically wrong. We tried everything, buying another litter box, using the cleaner that guarantees it will stop a pet from marking, nothing worked. Sadly, the cat was eventually banned to the laundry room. At first, he yowled day and night. It was awful, and my prayers to Saint Seraphim were numerous. My husband was not so sad, and was already plotting the cat's demise. So for the past 3 months, the cat has been under quarantine. Then about a month ago, he started using the laundry room as his litter box. This was the last straw for my husband. I was actually accepting the fact that my fur-ball was not going to be with us much longer. I asked Saint Seraphim to guide us in finding a family that would take care of him. Then the miraculous happened. A few days ago, my husband called in the middle of the day and asked me who the Patron Saint of animals was. I told him about St. Seraphim. He said he had been feeling like we should try to help the cat one more time, and he had gotten some advice from a local pet shop.
That night, we spent about 2 hours thoroughly cleaning the laundry room, and my husband brought home a few things to try to help. He even bought the cat a toy, which in my opinion was a huge gesture! We prayed that our efforts would help. I am so happy to report that overnight my cat has completely changed!! He is using the litter box, and ONLY the litter box, he's happy, and I'm ecstatic! I've let him out during the day for "supervised visits" and he's been great. I just had to share his story. Thank you, Saint Seraphim!
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