Sammie’s Tail Part 16

Sammie’s Tail Part 16

If she was scared or people would come over, she would hide under our bedroom bed.  Mostly she stayed behind the couch.  I fed her in the dining room to ensure she would leave that area, as well as the litter box was in the bathroom.   They say you should have 2 litter boxes if you have one cat.   But my sister in law who had two cats, said she only had one.

I was also advised to use a water gun to train the cat.  I didn’t like to do that.  I NOW know that NOT to do that.  It did prevent Sammie from climbing on our couches etc.   Really, we had no clue or true understanding.  I always heard cats were self-sufficient, did not need anything or anybody, were independent.  Well, I disagree. What I learned is the opposite.  They need stimulation, love, attention, just as we do.

Through all this, Sammie still loved to be pet and we had our, what I call, love time.  We had 2 times during the day when she would eat.   I wanted her to be healthy, so I began feeding her natural balance.  It was the least expensive of the healthier foods I found. 

She didn’t like dry food, only wet, so we stopped giving her dry food.  She was getting accustomed to having her food at certain times.  She ate everything at each sitting.  I was giving her too much food at first, I later found out. I thought I was giving the right quantity.  Really she should only have 2 pouches a day for her small size.  She was about 6lbs when we first weighed her.  That was after feeding her outside for a couple of months. 

Her mouth had healed nicely, but at least she won’t die because of a tooth infection or anything.  So she was now good and healthy.  We were all adjusting to living together.

We began to watch TV to learn about cats.  I mean everything we could find with cats, about cats etc.   We came across Jackson Galaxy’s “Cat from Hell” show.  We watched another show, “You must love cats”.   We watched Pet TV.  I started to buy cat magazines.  I really took this seriously.   I even went to a cat circus show and bought the book and other books on how to train your cats.  One was clicker training. 

Well Sammie is, how you say, a scaredy-cat kind of cat.  More timid, but as the vet says, a nice and good cat.  Except when she hisses at me!  So, the noise was not going to work for her.  She eventually began going between my legs when I brought her food to her and head bumps me when I sit down to feed her.

After about a month or so, I started choking when I was eating food.  My husband asked me why I can’t eat properly.   I began to realize my suspicions.  I thought I may be allergic to cats as I got a reaction of a bad cold at my sister in laws house who has 4 cats and dogs too.

I made an appointment and found out I am allergic to both cats and dogs.  I was not going to not have Sammie in our house, I was committed and growing attached.  So I went on allergy shots for all my allergies, bought a hepa filter machine to keep the dander down, and tried to keep the house clean.  I could not turn up the hepa filter to high as it had a high tone, and cats hear better than us and I saw it bothered her from being in the living room behind the couch.  Eventually, I felt better than ever with the allergy shots as I did not have the seasonal hay fever etc. anymore.