Honey's Nine Lives

Shortly after Scott and I were married, we got a cat from the Humane Society named Honey. I was the "cat person" and Scott reluctantly went along with the idea (like a newly-wed husband dutifully does). It didn't take long for Scott & Honey to form a loving relationship. Scott's pretty passionate about his couch, and he falls asleep on it almost nightly. Honey snuggled up with him each night and that's how the friendship begun.

But, to cut a long (and emotional) story short, Honey started peeing all over our house when I was pregnant with Will. We tried everything to change her behavior...tinfoil, special citrus-scented sprays, urine remover, letting her be an indoor/outdoor cat and even kitty Prozac. Nothing worked. In the end, the vet referred us to a pet psychologist. That's when we knew we were at the end of our options. They told us the pregnancy hormones were making me smell different to Honey and that it was stressing her out. The vet asked if I planned on nursing the baby and I said "yes". She said that Honey's behavior would likely continue until I finished nursing. So, given the choice between the cat and nursing Will, I chose Will.

I refused to let Honey go to Animal Control, for fear she might be euthanized. So, we asked around and Scott found a co-worker who was looking for a cat to keep her other one company. So, she took Honey. We gave her a "full-refund" policy in the event that Honey started peeing at her place. Fortunately, she didn't. A few years later, the coworker gave Honey to her Grandma who lives in Ohio. Last we heard, Honey was very well fed (and loved) and slept in bed with Grandma. That was 2004.

Fast-forward to today...2009 and the phone rings this afternoon. It's a man calling from Beaufort,SC asking if I own a female tortoise-shell colored cat. I'm in shock. He says he's found this cat and it has a 2008 Mecklenburg County rabies tag on. So, he calls Animal Control and they give him my name and number and tell him the cat's name is Honey. So, he calls me. He's very personable and describes the cat. I'm trying to figure out how on earth this can be true. But, when we start talking about the details (Honey was declawed in the front, but this cat's not...the cat has an extra toe on each front paw, Honey didn't) I realize there's been a database mix-up because the cat CAN'T be Honey.

The ironic part is, a similar type of mix-up happened in our neighborhood about 6 months ago. A neighbor found a dog, called the number on the tag and the person swore it wasn't their dog. So, the neighbor was trying to find a home for the dog instead of giving it to the pound. I thought the whole story was a little shady...after all, if your number's on the tag it's GOT to be your pet. But, now I know mistakes do happen.

I know the boys would LOVE a pet (cat or dog) but at this point, we're just not ready. I know we'll get one eventually. All these memories of Honey make me think it might be sooner than later.

Here's a picture of Honey from May 2004