The Cat Who Was Tolerated

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That is not our cat, but it actually looks very much like Samantha (a.k.a Sami or Sam). Poor Sami. I had always loved cats, and when I was living by myself prior to marrying Mr. Incredible, I decided that I would get a cat of my own. I knew that Mr. Incredible didn't care too much for cats, but we were only dating at that time, and I figured he didn't have a say in my decision. I found a cute little kitten that was feisty and thought that the name Samantha fit her personality perfectly.

Little did I know that Mr. Incredible would propose to me only a couple of weeks later. Oh, well! At that point, the cat was part of the package deal. The only problem was that when "the gang" would come over to my house, Mr. Incredible and his/our friends took great delight in teasing poor Sam. Consequently, she became quick tempered and highly unpredictable in her responses. She would be purring one moment and ferociously biting your hand the next. She remains so to this day, although she has mellowed a bit since we had the girls.

As time went by, Mr. Incredible became more reconciled to having Sam around, and I became annoyed at her unpredictable behavior. (Hence the title of this post.) Mr. Incredible actually pampers and plays with her more than I do now. He's the one who suggested buying her a cat bed, and he even considered getting her what I would call a cat condo hotel - those two-tiered cat apartment thingies (very technical name, I know). He's the one who pets her most often and plays with her regardless of the bites and scratches he receives.

Even though I only tolerate Sami now, she is definitely a part of our family. She is mostly an indoor cat, and the girls alternate between telling her to shoo and coaxing her to let them pet her. I've warned them that she will bite, but all of them have learned that lesson firsthand and still go back for more.

I'm not sure how the girls would react if something happened to Sami. I suspect they would not exactly be brokenhearted. Pookie Bear has already begged me to give Sami to someone else so we can get a nice cat or, better yet, a dog. (I'm not interested in getting a dog and always tell her to talk to Daddy about that subject.) I suspect that Sami will only leave us when she dies of old age. After getting hit by a car - at least that is what we surmise happened, she sticks very close to home. Our neighbors have told us that they never see her leave our yard unless we do, and most of the time she prefers to be indoors.

I think that the next cat we have will be strictly an outside cat. Sami has ruined too many couches for my taste. Does your family have a pet? Do you allow pets inside?