Coldhearted and Soul less.

Today I was called coldhearted and told I had no soul. And for some reason those words didnt sting. I've been called a lot worse. What caught me off guard was the person saying these words to me. These words came from the mouth of my husband; the father of my two children. He looked me square in the eye and said these words to me, and I choked as I tried to hold back the laughter. But let me back up a bit.

It all started when my son wanted a cat. He begged and begged and finally we submitted. Why not? My son is very responsible and he's a great kid. At first we tried looking into rescueing one instead of purchasing one, why not save a life right. But after weeks of not being able to find one we ended up purchasing one. The cat was 12 weeks, a tad too old for my likings but my husband and son wanted her. My husband, who we'll call Jason, had never had a pet before so he took a special liking to this cat. We purchased her then went to pet smart and spent over $300 on food, litter, toys, beds, and grooming products for her. While at pet smart she was sweet, a precious little angel. Then we got home.

Her first night she started tearing things up. She had a very big, very expensive scratching post and yet she chose to scratch my furniture. The following week she began to get aggressive towards me. I jokingly told Jason it was because me and her were the only females in the house and she's also trying to get his attention. She started hissing at me and would scratch at my ankles and feet if I would walk too closely to where she was. I would firmly say no or get a squirt bottle to her. After some time this didn't work anymore so I bought a kitty leash and would tie her to it whenever she got aggressive. Not too long, just long enough for both of us to calm down.

Another week goes by and she seems to be getting worse. One day the baby was laying on the floor playing with his toys and she scratched him. It was a nasty scratch too. He bled quite a bit. My poor baby was traumatized. He didnt want to play or eat, let alone get near the cat. I told Jason it was time for that bitch to go ((thats exactly what I said)). He somehow talked me into letting her stay, but I let him know she had one more time and then she's out of here.

So yesterday (April 12, 2010), my boys are on the floor playing cars and the cats tail stands straight up and she looks as if she's going to attack, but then she runs off so I pay it no mind. Then I hear my son crying. He walks to me holding his hand out bawling. I see scratches on his hand. My other son runs in and tells me the cat scratched the baby. I saw red. I honestly wanted blood. I'm glad she ran behind the entertainment center because if I could have gotten her at that moment she'd be dead. I told Jason right then and there that she had to go. As soon as we catch her she's out of here. He agreed. So I started calling shelters to see where she could go but by this time everywhere was closed. I even called a few friends but they all knew of this cats behavior and they didn't want to bother with it. Regardless, she had to go. It started to get later and I grew tired so I had Jason move the entertainment center so we can catch her. I then proceeded to put her on her leash and take her outside. Now don't comment saying how I shouldn't have done that. I tried to make this work but my childs safety comes first.

When I sat her in the backyard she started playing. At this point I don't think she knew what was going on. I looked at my husband and asked him if he were ok, this had been his first and only pet; he told me yes and agreed that her scratching the baby is a No No. We went back in the house and continued with our nightly ritual. Bathing and feeding the boys, eating dinner, etc.

Once the boys were in bed we were laying together, I sensed something was wrong. He told me that he didnt feel right about putting her out anymore. How he knows what she did is wrong but how small she looks outside. So I suggested that we go outside, 11 something at night, and check on her. Maybe even bring her some food. We walked around the house and couldnt find her, he gave up and wanted to go back in but I suggested one more go round, and thats when we saw her. She came running to us meowing. Ironically enough when he tried to grab her she ran, but she allowed me to take her. I handed her to him. She started meowing and purring and putting on a show, just like she did at the shop. So he asks me if she can come in. I say no, because now she has been outdoors doing i dont know what. We sit on the steps and check her for fleas and ticks ((when we set her out we removed colars and everything)) then somehow Jason ends up getting her back in the house. So now we're arguing. He now has a filthy cat in my home. He's trying to plead to me that we need to find her a home. Now I already found a new kitten, 4wks old to replace her. So he starts argueing what if the new kitty scratches the baby. My thing is, I suggested and offered to cut this cats nails and he refused to let me because this is his cat. The new cat is mines and will have the nails trimmed.  My patience was wearing thin so I told him either she's gone by Wednesday or I am.

And now we are where I began. He looked me square in the eye and said I was soul less and coldhearted. Because I don't seem to care what happens to his cat. Or because I don't seem to care how attached he is and the fact that this is his first pet doesn't bother me. Like I said previously, I fought hard to hold back my laughter. Was he serious? Then he turns and tells me to put the cat back out. Uhm, No. I didn't bring her back in.

Needless to say, the cat is outside somewhere. I honestly won't lose any sleep because of it, and I still cant believe he called me coldhearted. I should have asked him if I'm all of these things then why is he with me. Anyways, just wanted to sort of vent and get this out. I feel much better now.