I used to roll my eyes at those people, years ago.
The ones who said their pet was a member of their family and who would get all weepy over the thought of something happening to their pet.
I wasn’t heartless… I liked dogs and cats and all manner of pets (except maybe snakes or rats… WHY???).
But still: animals are not human.
And now, I’m one of those same people I used to roll my eyes at.
My cat is part of my family.
An important part.
My boys love their cat. I love our cat.
Dobby Cat is always snuggling up with someone. He nuzzles in and demands his cuddles if you aren’t quick enough to give them. He watches over his humans.
He doesn’t mind being picked up and squeezed by whichever child wants to carry him around.
If we’re gone for any length of time, even the short time it takes to do school drop off, he comes running to the door when we get home.
While I’d still give a little bit of a side eye to anyone who said their pet was on the same level of importance as their child… I do very much get the love for pets.
So last week, when our Dobby was missing for a full day, I was a mess.
We’re guessing a door left open too long combined with some sort of loud noise that startled him being the only reason he wasn’t in the house since he’s a bit of a ‘fraidy cat.
Two different fruitless trips to the animal shelter when it seemed like someone had brought him in, posting on every local lost animal site, talking to neighbors, starting to make signs to hang up around the neighborhood…
And 20 minutes before I had to pick my kids up for school, I started sobbing, thinking about having to tell them that I still hadn’t found their cat. Thinking of my 9 year old, who cried so hard over the thought of his cat being gone that his whole body shook as he told me “Mommy, my heart is breaking.”
Worried that we’d never find him and that as adorable as the kittens were down at the shelter, knowing we couldn’t just get a replacement cat and move on.
A friend stopped over and she actually found our Dobby, which made me cry harder since that seemed like the totally rational reaction.
I was so relieved to have him back and that my boys would come home to find him back.
So yes, our cat really is a member of our family. Roll your eyes at me if you will.
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