Looking back, I can see the signs were always there I just didn’t recognize them. I told you during my first week on the job a few things about myself and I probably took up the most space talking about my cat.
Yes, I have become a crazy cat lady or at least I’m well on my way. I only own one so far, after all.
Like I said, the signs were always there. It’s been a gradual but eventual progression to my most recent obsession.
It probably started 15 years ago when I got a rabbit for my birthday. I never had pets, well real pets anyway. My parents were allergic to cats and dogs so anything I owned had to be small. We had a Siamese fighting fish briefly and cycled through a few hamsters.
It was the rabbit, albeit a dwarf rabbit, that was the closest thing I had to owning a pet I could cuddle and play with. I treated it as more of a cat/dog hybrid than the rodent that it was. I had a leash to take her on walks, and she responded more like a cat than a dog to getting a collar put around her neck. I trained her to use a litter box (sign No. 1!) and let her hop around the house when I was home.
The rabbit lasted longer than the hamsters, but not by much and as I made my way through school and small apartments and residency, the idea of owning a pet was shelved.
Then during journalism school I pitched the idea of covering and attending the local cat show.
I didn’t think I liked cats at the time and really just threw the idea out there as a suggestion but my teacher went for it.
It was nearing Halloween too, so all of the cat-owners dressed up their cats and themselves. I felt like Veronica Corningstone from Anchor Man, doomed to write about animals for the rest of my days. It didn’t help when I was cornered by a few members of the local feline association to learn all about the feral cat problems in the city. I collected enough information that day alone to write about cats until the end of my life.
At least that’s how I looked at it then. Now that I am morphing into a crazy cat lady, I would be delighted to attend a cat show.
So when did I figure out I was turning into a crazy cat lady? And what exactly does this title entail? Well, I’ll give you a few examples of signs to watch for if you or your loved one is also becoming a crazy cat lady (or gent):
• When you’re out with your friends and it’s getting late, you wonder if your cat is at home trying to figure out why you’re not there.
• You know what a clowder is and you’re trying to be part of one by continually welcoming new cats into your home.
• You’ve heard cats communicate by blinking and you spend a good half hour holding your cat to your face and blinking to see if they’ll let you in on their secret code.
• You find yourself in line at an organic grocery store with nothing more than a stack of organic cat food tins for purchase (.... guilty).
• You Google on a consistent basis, “why are cat’s so AWESOME.”
• The only pictures on your phone are those of your cat, you with your cat, or your friends (reluctantly) with your cat.
• You’re starting to hang out more with people who own cats than people who don’t because they just get you more. Also, you can swap adorable cat stories all night and it doesn’t get old.
If this sounds like you, don’t worry, just give in and embrace the role. Let people call you a crazy cat lady, it just doesn’t seem to matter when you know you have a cute ball of fuzz waiting to greet you at the door when you get home.
