the A team: cat

I was asked about Tater (our cat) and how he gets along with Riley recently. I thought I'd go ahead and post it. After all, Tater is part of our family and before Riley we referred to him as our "son" when Aaron and I would talk about him.

Well, the quick answer is -- Tater doesn't really get along with anyone, let alone Riley. And, we haven't called him our "son" since the day Riley was born.

Tater is our cat. He's a cat. He's a pet. An animal. Not our "son."

Tater was always weird, to be honest. From day one he ate his food entirely too fast and would turn around looking as if someone were going to take it away. He scarfs his food down. We feed him twice a day. He used to be on a diet. We haven't taken him to the vet in awhile so I don't know what they'd recommend for him now, probably a diet still (he's huge) but we feed him if he's hungry. Why not? I hate diets. Tater must too.

Tater (his full name is Tater Tot, by the way) never liked people - especially men. Any repair man of any sort scares the meow out of him. He's a wuss. I've found him hiding under the bed, couches and even in the bathtub before. He hisses. He growls. He swats and kicks. He attempts to bite. Being scared makes him do nasty things.

Tater is mean. People come over and want to pet him, so as they attempt to he'll immediately swat at them, or try to bite them or just run away hissing. We have to explain our cat every. single. time. someone comes over. It gets old. We have to explain that he's different and to just avoid him - ignore him.

Tater does not like Emillie, Hannah or Riley either. He tolerates them to the point he has to but he really doesn't care for them. And actually, the girls don't care for him much either anymore. They just tell him to shut up as he hisses. They are totally used to him and his ways. Riley, on the other hand...

Riley still loves Tater. She's too young to understand that he's mean. Actually, I take that back. Tater has growled and swatted at her - and she's pouted and started to cry before. She's had her feelings hurt several times by him already. Riley loves cats. "at" was her first word besides Dada, of course. She loves cats. Loves meowing. Loves Tater. She loves touching him, following him, etc. Tater will let Riley get close sometimes but eventually he gets annoyed and turns mean or just runs away. He's never bit Riley. If he ever does, Aaron will probably remove him from this house immediately (not that I could argue that).

Tater tolerates me and Aaron too. If it weren't for us feeding him, he'd have nothing to do with us. He's not affectionate. Not a lap cat. You can't hold him (only Aaron can) and he's nice only a small amount of time. Many times I start petting him thinking he's being nice and sweet and...nope! He goes to bite me and I yell at him. The end. Same story, different days.

Actually, my allergies are getting worse (probably because I'm off allergy shots currently) and I can't even pet Tater or hold him. His fur instantly bothers me. I vacuum like crazy. Lucky for me I'm a neat freak anyway so vacuuming doesn't bother me in the least. It's a chore I enjoy. (If any of you want to pay me to vacuum your house, please call!) Aaron has to brush Tater because I can't handle his fur flying in the air.

I love cats. I grew up with cats. I'm so sad that I'm really allergic to them. Aaron wants us to get a nice cat and for me to get my allergy shots again. Ha ha. Well, that may happen in our future. We'll see.

Seriously though, what do you do with a bad cat? We've had him 5 years already and he's about that old. While I don't like his behavior I do get sad when thinking of getting rid of him. He's our cat. I just feel weird even talking about getting rid of him. But truthfully, he's not enjoyable to be around. Our emotional ties to him are growing further apart - thanks to having Riley now, a "real" child. Ha ha. Oh, Tater. How I wish you'd snap out of it and be nice already!

Aaron and I would love for Riley to grow up with a sweet, affectionate cat. That's what we want. And it's not what we have. It's frustrating.

Tater does have one thing going for him though - he's a hunter. He catches nasty crickets and mice that we get in this old house of ours. He's good for something. One thing.

Anyway, if anyone wants a mean cat - let me know. We may be able to arrange something! He is declawed - so his swats are just that. He can't claw you...oh but he can with his back claws. Oops, forgot that part. Well, regardless, let me know if you want him. He is handsome!