Venus

I promised in a previous post that I would introduce our cat, Venus. We adopted her from the humane society last summer. I had been on the lookout for a tiger-striped tabby, since I had one as a child and they're my favorite kind of cat.

Venus is probably the perfect cat for our family, which consists of someone who doesn't care for animals (my husband), someone who loves cats (me) and a four-year old boy. She's sweet-natured and likes to be around us, but she does not sit in our laps. Seriously. You know how with some cats, as soon as you sit down, they're in your lap, putting their butts in your face, and when you push them off they're back a minute later? Not Venus. She has never sat in my lap.


On the other hand, she is very affectionate. She rubs up against our legs, hangs out near me and Henry, flops down next to us and lets us pet her, and even sleeps under the blankets pressed against me at night.

Venus is actually the second cat we adopted in 2009. Very early in the year we brought home another tabby named Jasper but ended up returning him to the humane society a week later. I still feel guilty about this and blame myself for the poor timing.

It was in January, when I was attempting to leave Henry in the childcare at the health club. If you'll remember, it didn't go so well, and Henry became particularly clingy and needy. Jasper was shy and very young, and while Henry was intrigued by him he also started to yell at Jasper and chase him. In addition, Jasper had a few accidents and started to chew on some of Henry's toys.

I think if I had given it some time Jasper might have worked out, but it just didn't feel right. So I returned Jasper with a very heavy heart, certain that I had scarred my child for life.


Yet I still really wanted a cat. For some reason I think a pet makes a home feel warmer and I was hoping that Henry would grow to like animals as much as I do -- which is to say, not become a crazy animal person, but to appreciate and enjoy them.

And I think for the most part Henry does enjoy Venus. It's true that he vascillates between, "Go away Venus!" and "Oh, sweetie girl, I love you!" but I think that's normal for his age. At any rate, it's pretty much the way he talks to the humans in his family.