Nearly six million adults in the US live with bipolar disorder.
This is her experience.
I admit it: I'm a cat lady.
Not only that; because I'm bipolar it means I'm a "crazy cat lady." I even have a crazy cat lady costume in my costume closet in case of emergency fancy dress parties.
But you know what? I'm proud of being a cat lady because it means I'm one of the luckiest ladies in the world.
My cats are one of the greatest joys in my life. No matter how crappy I'm feeling, I have at least one creature in the world who cares about me. My cats don't judge me (except maybe Mima) and they don't see me as a failure. I don't have kids and I don't want them. Honestly, I have no maternal feelings at all for human babies, but if I hear a tiny kitten cry I go into hormonal overdrive.
It drives me crazy when people say that cats are all the same, that they're aloof and evil. I have a cat that has those characteristics, but I also have cats that are nothing like that.
In the spirit of giving everyone a virtual kitty snuggle and dispelling rumors about cat types and attitudes, I would like to present to you:
MY CATS
Mima (AKA Anastacia Mimarin Pugh-Suarez for reasons neither my ex-husband nor I can remember) was found in south Texas in the middle of summer hiding under a car after being rolled by another car. She was starving and the pads of her feet were all torn up from the accident.
When we were examining her, we found out she had been de-clawed before she was dumped and they botched the job. Her feet are deformed so she bites at them when they bother her.
Mima is currently 15-years old and a bony Calico. Her ankles crackle. She gets stressed sometimes and pees on the couch. It's rare that she wants to cuddle but when she does she'll nudge you hard enough with her head to shove a computer off your lap.
Rufus Bartlett was named after Chris Rock's character in Dogma, mostly because of his attitude. In October he'll be 10 years old. He's black with a white locket.
He was two days old when he was found abandoned by his mother in a nest with a baby bunny. Wildlife Rescue came for the bunny, while I bottle-fed and raised Rufus after someone else was going to take him to animal control to be euthanized. He's very attached to me but hates being picked up. Sometimes he chases people down and bites their ankles.
Pitti-Sing was part of a litter of three rescued from a roof. I named her after the Three Maids from The Mikado. She's dark gray with white on her feet and her chest.
The others in her litter didn't make it and she went into kidney failure at five weeks old. After a coma, severe oxygen deprivation and a stint in the ICU, the doctors said she wouldn't make it to five years old. In a week she'll turn seven. Still isn't quite right, though.
D. Strider was named after a character from the web comic Homestuck. I was walking a dog for work and a lady came up to me and asked if I thought her kitten was deaf because he was white with blue eyes. I told her all kittens have blue eyes, but she wanted to put him to sleep! Not on my watch!
D. Strider will be two years old in June and is all white (with gold eyes). He enjoys nectarines and mangoes.
Wasabi is the Kitten Nobody Wanted. She was one of my extremely feral fosters (they all get named after food) that people were interested in - until they saw her picture. By the time we gave up trying to find her a home and adopted her ourselves, she was the cuddliest cat ever. Unfortunately, she has a bad habit of nursing on people.
Wasabi recently turned one year old and is a gray tabby with white and cream patches. She's roughly the size and shape of a baby whale.
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People say I rescued my cats, but I think they rescued me.
Whenever I'm at my worst, they pile on me for group cuddles. When I'm sick, they make biscuits on me. Sometimes when I feel like I'm unloved and life isn't worth living, they remind me that they need me just as much as I need them.
My cats are my children - I would do anything to keep them safe and make sure they're well.
We can all use a kitten break to make us forget our troubles sometimes. If you don't have a kitty, please feel free to pretend one of mine is yours for cuddling purposes.
Just remember, they aren't dishwasher safe and I do not recommend folding them.
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