You Gotta Be Kitten!

(When I am 13, my dad gets me a cat. A couple years later, as a teenager, my mom starts dating a guy who absolutely loves animals, and is vegan because of that. Shortly after he moves in, my cat gives birth. We get her fixed immediately after, and keep one kitten. We are waiting for her to get older before we get her fixed, too, but a few weeks before her appointment she starts getting fat. We think it might be too late, and she is already pregnant, but they bring her in anyway to see what the vet will say. When they get home, the cat is partly shaved and walking very gingerly, so I assume everything went as planned.)

Me: “Oh, so the fixing went fine?”

Boyfriend: *walks away without a word*

Me: “Um… Mom?”

Mom: “Sit down, sweetie…”

(She then explains to me that my kitten has not been gaining weight because she is pregnant, but because she has been diagnosed with FIV (aka feline AIDS) and her intestines had been filling up with fluid. The vet drained the fluid, but her prognosis isn’t good, and she’s basically been sent home for palliative care. Her boyfriend is so upset by the news he doesn’t talk to anyone for the rest of the day. The vet gave us a pamphlet about FIV, which says that about 10% of cats get it, and of those affected, only 10% survive. So, we brace ourselves for the fact that my kitten is most likely going to die. Fast forward a couple months. She’s healed from her operation, is very active and spry once more, so we again book an appointment to have her fixed.)

Mom: “Hi, this is [Mom]; I’d like to make an appointment for [Kitten] to have her spayed.”

Vet: “She’s still ALIVE?!?”

(Not only did my kitten beat the odds, but she turned 11 this year. And I still call her Kitten, because she still acts like one!)