Talk me off the ledge.....

[Deleted]

When we were walking home from dinner tonight, we found a stray kitten. Like true kitten, maybe 4weeks old. She was soooo adorable. Calico. Beautiful kitty, with a cute little kittie mew. And she followed us almost the whole way home. We were less than a block home when she stopped following us... I was close to tears the whole way. Partly because I really wanted her, partly because she was just on the street and that makes me sad, and partly because I know we shouldn't really get her yet.

I picked her up and held her a few times. If H would have given me the go, I would have picked her up and brought her home right then. And then took her to the vet tomorrow for shots and everything. But he didn't pull the trigger. I think he is felling down about it too.... I literally cried a few tears for her...and for me. lol.

I can't stop thinking about her...I know its probably for the best that we didn't take her home. We don't have a litter box yet, or food, or anything. And tomorrow we have plans until 4pm so we would have been gone so it would have been hard to get her all set up...I am also worried about her being a kitten that she would scratch up our couches....so we would need to get a scratch post too. Gah!

Now tomorrow I feel like going and buying everything so its ready so the next time if we see one, we can take it home and be ready.

Tell me to cheer up and get over it. It's so hard because she is exactly what I have been looking for in a kitty.

eta: i just went and looked up what it takes to bring a kitty back to the states...i am horrible. i need to do something to get my mind off of it.

[Deleted]

I say this not because I don't love rescue animals, but because of my experiences in the past 72 hours. Please wait. Please wait till you and you h have talked about this face to face, are both 100% on board, you both have the time to go get her at the same time and have an aquision plan in place. As happy as I am to have my pup, I really don't wish this heartache or feelings of guilt on anyone. Please wait till both of you are ready.

[joenali]

Don't get a cat while you are there. I'm assuming you will be moving back to the US when you are done teaching there. Won't a cat need to go through quarantine or something like that? I don't know, I just don't think getting an animal while you are just starting teaching in a foreign country is not a good idea. That being said, I dislike cats very much. Sorry!

[Deleted]

Oh H was with me. He would have been fine if I would have picked her up and brought her. We stopped at the market and he said," if you walked back to get her, I would understand. "

I did start walking back....but someone else had picked her up....I doubt they intended to take her...but I just turned around.

[Deleted]

Aug 26, 2012 14:16:59 GMT -5 joenali said:

Don't get a cat while you are there. I'm assuming you will be moving back to the US when you are done teaching there. Won't a cat need to go through quarantine or something like that? I don't know, I just don't think getting an animal while you are just starting teaching in a foreign country is not a good idea. That being said, I dislike cats very much. Sorry!

actually i just looked it up. all she needs is proof that she doesnt have a disease. so basically shot records. no quarantine.

eta: also H is not working so he will be home all the time to take care of her. it's not like I would get a cat and be gone from 6-4pm everyday with her here alone. she will be H's buddy during the day.

[amandasw]

actually i just looked it up. all she needs is proof that she doesnt have a disease. so basically shot records. no quarantine.

eta: also H is not working so he will be home all the time to take care of her. it's not like I would get a cat and be gone from 6-4pm everyday with her here alone. she will be H's buddy during the day.

all of this is great! obviously don't rush anything, but it pretty much sounds like as soon as your H is ok with it, you should do it

[Deleted]

Aug 26, 2012 15:17:55 GMT -5 @amandasw said:

actually i just looked it up. all she needs is proof that she doesnt have a disease. so basically shot records. no quarantine.

eta: also H is not working so he will be home all the time to take care of her. it's not like I would get a cat and be gone from 6-4pm everyday with her here alone. she will be H's buddy during the day.

all of this is great! obviously don't rush anything, but it pretty much sounds like as soon as your H is ok with it, you should do it

+1

Personally, I would still wait to be completely settled and have some sort of routine before bringing home the cat.

[amandasw]

joenali - I'm not trying to be mean, but why do you always comment in cat threads and then say how much you hate cats? not saying you can't participate in threads, I just don't see the point in constantly saying negative and/or unhelpful things. sorry, it's just confusing to me.

[jennlin]

Aug 26, 2012 15:17:55 GMT -5 @amandasw said:

actually i just looked it up. all she needs is proof that she doesnt have a disease. so basically shot records. no quarantine.

eta: also H is not working so he will be home all the time to take care of her. it's not like I would get a cat and be gone from 6-4pm everyday with her here alone. she will be H's buddy during the day.

all of this is great! obviously don't rush anything, but it pretty much sounds like as soon as your H is ok with it, you should do it

this.

[joenali]

I don't like cats. THere ya go!

[amandasw]

Aug 26, 2012 18:37:35 GMT -5 joenali said:

I don't like cats. THere ya go!

yeah, I think we *all* get that... so why comment in these threads at all? I just doesn't make sense.

[joenali]

She wanted someone to talk her off the ledge, so why not a cat disliker to do so?

Andplusalso, this is a message board and I felt like replying, go figure!!

[amandasw]

Aug 26, 2012 20:36:22 GMT -5 joenali said:

She wanted someone to talk her off the ledge, so why not a cat disliker to do so?

Andplusalso, this is a message board and I felt like replying, go figure!!

haha I knew that last part was coming, which is why in my first post I said, I wasn't telling you you couldn't post (believe me, I've played enough on ML to see that response before) - just asking why you go on every cat thread and say "I hate cats" "cats are gross", all of which are pretty unhelpful. Husky doesn't want kids but you don't see her go on every @ post and say "babies are stupid".

[joenali]

Babies... that is a whole other topic!! Let's not get started on that one either!

[InBetweenDays]

My cousin went through something similar when she was volunteering for a few months in Cameroon. I know every country is different, and for her it was quite a challenge to get him back into the states. But 6 years later and she still has her African kitty.

If your DH is on board and you know that you'd be able to bring her back into the states, I'd say go for it. As long as you have the time to truly care for her while you're there (but really, any care she gets is better than what she has now!).

[Deleted]

If it were me, I would have walked back picked her up and taken her home. I have a soft spot for kitties that need homes and if it weren't for room and costs we would have more than just the 2 we have now.

[Deleted]

sfgal, you are completely correct. one of the reasons i turned around when I saw an Egyptian pick her up was that I was afraid I would see them doing something terrible... Honestly, usually the cat problem doesn't bug me that much....I think this one in particular just hit home because it was exactly what I had been looking for and drooling over on the rescue website. She was perfect and so cute and playful. It was adorable. I think that's why I got so upset about it. But I do need to realize that I can't save them all and if I take one home, that I will probably see a million more that I love...