My name is Jezebel. I am a 16 year old female Russian Blue mix cat. I was born to a family and was called Maritabelle until I was 3 years old. Then they moved and left me at the pound.
One spring day I was hidden in the back of this box I found myself in, attempting to escape my prison, when this college girl and her boyfriend came in and opened my cage. I was nervous and scared but I wanted to be held. At first she picked me up and laid me on my back in her arms which I do NOT like. But I arranged myself in my favorite position: head on the shoulder, belly against chest. They hemmed and hawed, she sweetly batted her eyes at her boyfriend which looked to me like, "Can we keep her?"
Next thing I know I'm getting put in a box, then in a car, and then in a new house. First we lived in a duplex in Bellingham with 5 guys and my new mommy but that was only for a couple of days. I say first because we moved; we moved A LOT. I loved my new family. They kept me inside and always had a clean litterbox for me. I got my crunchies and I also got scraps from whomever came over, got drunk and dropped food.
Over the next few years our lives were constantly changing. We moved. My Mom and Dad graduated from college. They got engaged. We moved. My Mom and Dad got married. We moved. My Mom had a baby. We moved. They got a dog. He panted ALL the time. I hissed at him and peed on my Mom's bed to show my discontent. I turned into an inside/outside cat. My Mom had another baby. The dog found a new home. We moved - to the home we still live in today - the longest we've lived in one spot since my Mom and Dad lived at the homes they grew up in.
This new place was set out in the woods. They kept me in for a while to make sure I knew this was my home but eventually they let me out. They got another dog. I peed on their bed again. Apparently they didn't remember that I don't particularly like dogs. They got another dog. They tried to introduce us but his gigantic head scared me and I scratched his eyeball. Then I peed on their bed again. I found myself looking at the door...a lot. No amount of scratching or crying seemed to do the trick. I finally came to the conclusion: I was now an outside cat.
It was ok because I liked being outside here. There was tons of space to explore, tons of birds to kill, tons of squirrels to gut and leave on the front porch. My house was on the bedroom deck. I made my way up and down the old fashioned way - I climbed. In the severe winter weather they would bring me in and lock me in the bathroom. I would've rathered they left me outside.
Over the years they have brought home a myriad of animals. I have outlived or outlasted 3 dogs, 5 cats, a rabbit, 14 chickens, 2 guinea pigs & 3 hermit crabs . Unfortunately, against my wishes, I currently share my home with 3 dogs, a rabbit, 17 chickens and 4 feral cats. The feral cats don't bother me. I quit leaving my deck long ago. It's gotten harder to climb up and down the posts, and frankly I just don't feel like it. I'd rather nap in the sunshine or cuddle in my bed.
About two months ago one of my kids came up to my deck to feed me and found my eye had been injured. I don't know how many days I spent with my eye hurt like this, but it didn't really seem to bother me or change my daily routine at all. Once the girl found me it won me a trip to the vet. The vet said the infection was so bad they couldn't do anything until it was under control. And so we went home, with pills and eye drops, for two weeks of treatment. I had to wear a cone (which made it hard for me to eat) and my eye itched so it really sucked. We went back to the vet after the two weeks but it hadn't healed enough. Back home we went with more pills and eye drops. Unexpectedly though, about a week into those treatments, I was rubbing my eye during a time they let me go without the cone, and something happened. There was something hanging out of my bad eye and it
hurt! We had to rush back to the vet to find out what was going to happen to me and there were two options on the table: 1) they could do surgery and sew my eye socket shut ($900+), or 2) they could send me to an opthamologist who could try to repair my eye ($2500+). See, I had accidentally scratched at my eye enough that my lens fell out and it was hanging down to my whiskers. My Dad had taken me in. I knew it couldn't be going well when he was texting something every time the Doctor spoke. And then, when the Doctor left the room Dad called my Mom at home. They talked for a while and then my Dad started to weep. RUH ROH! Fortunately for me my Dad asked for another option. "What will happen if we just brought her home and see how it goes? I mean what would happen if she was in the wild?" he asked the vet tech. She quickly scurried from the room. Not too many minutes later the Doc returned. He exchanged words with my Dad and before I knew it I was back in the cage, then back in the car, then back at home.
My kids were SO excited to see me. My Mom had already told them I wasn't going to be coming home from the vet that day. I am pretty old for a cat, and those options the Doc set forth were a little spendy for our family, especially when work was slow for my Dad. But I got to come home!
For the twenty or thirtieth time, my life suddenly changed. Because my eyesight is hindered so dramatically I can't go outside and play anymore. I have my own crunchy and water bowl that is refreshed daily with new food. I don't like the litter box anymore - I prefer to poop and pee in the tub. It gets cleaned right away and doesn't leave goobers on my feet. I get to sleep with my kids sometimes and I still get opportunities to lay in the sun (through the sliding glass door now, instead of on the deck.) Lately, I've been venturing downstairs to be a part of the family again. The dogs, even the ones who don't really like me, are actually being pretty good. The newest one leaves me alone for the most part and the little ugly one is scared to get in trouble so he keeps his distance. Right now I'm relaxing on the couch next to my Mom while she tells you some of my life story. Life is good.
