Your Cat Needs Help

Listen to advice and accept instruction,
that you may gain wisdom in the future.

KAREN AND ED were looking forward to visiting her family for the holidays, especially since they had a big announcement. Karen and Ed were expecting a baby. But before they could set off for Florida, they had to find a pet sitter for their cat, Abby.

The couple first saw Abby several months earlier during an adoption event at their local mall. The organizers told Karen and Ed that Abby was between two and three years of age. Her owner had been a man who traveled often and was no longer able to care for her. Karen and Ed immediately fell in love with her and were excited to experience the joy of being first-time pet parents. However, soon after bringing her home, Abby snuck up behind Karen and pounced on her, causing that joy to diminish a little.

Abby was affectionate and playful with Ed, but she would sporadically stalk and pounce on Karen.

“Maybe it’s just going to take her a while to get used to a woman,” Ed offered one night after intercepting Abby, who was making her way toward Karen. “After all, she lived with a workaholic bachelor for the first few years of her life. She’s probably not used to women.”

Karen hoped he was right.

And over the next several months, as Abby’s surprise pounces all but disappeared, it appeared as though she was. Which was why they felt comfortable hiring a pet sitter for Abby so they could fly down to Florida and deliver their news to Karen’s parents in person. Arrangements were made for the sitter to come to the house twice a day to feed and care for Abby.

But just two days into their trip, Karen received a phone call from the sitter.

“I quit,” she shouted into the phone. “That cat of yours needs help! She tries to attack me every time I come into the house.”

“Uh-oh,” Karen mouthed to Ed.

After confirming that Abby had not hurt the pet sitter at all, Karen and Ed, along with Karen’s parents, scrambled to find other arrangements for Abby. Finally a neighbor agreed to put down food and fresh water each day but made it clear she would not linger in the house. Thankfully, there were no more phone calls about Abby.

Still, as the months went by, and the baby Karen was carrying grew more each passing day, Karen’s worries about Abby and their soon-to-be-born child grew too. Karen knew they had to do something before the baby arrived.

“Surely there has to be a way to help her adjust to new people in the house, right?” Karen lamented to Ed one night. “I don’t want to have to find a new place for her to live, but we have to protect this baby,” she said, cradling her tummy.

The next day they took Abby to the vet.

“There’s nothing physically wrong with Abby,” the vet concluded after a thorough examination and several tests. “But I would like to refer Abby to a cat psychologist.”

Karen and Ed had to keep from laughing out loud.

A cat psychologist?

Karen felt a bit ridiculous when she called to make an appointment with the cat shrink, as Ed called her. But they desperately wanted to keep Abby after the baby was born.

The next week the cat psychologist, Dr. Lloyd, came to the house to evaluate Abby in her natural environment. She asked many questions; observed Abby’s interactions with Karen and Ed; studied Abby while she ate and when she rested; and interacted with Abby, in what Karen deduced were feline psychological tests. At the end of their almost two-hour-long visit, Dr. Lloyd diagnosed Abby with high anxiety and recommended several strategies from diet changes to behavior modifications to help lessen her symptoms.

“And as far as the new baby goes, try to prepare the house as much as possible as it will be when the baby arrives,” Dr. Lloyd suggested. “Specifically, get the baby’s room and crib all set up so that nothing will come as a surprise to Abby.”

Karen and Ed took the cat psychologist’s advice and even went so far as to get a doll which they wrapped in a blanket and kept in the crib. Sometimes Karen would carry the doll around with her, sing to it, and even put it in the baby swing.

“I feel ridiculous,” she would occasionally complain to Ed.

But when their daughter was born, and Abby accepted her as if she’d always been there, Karen was glad she had followed the psychologist’s advice. And since they were planning on adding another child to their family in the near future, Karen had no doubt she would be singing to the doll again soon.

PAWS & PONDER . . .

Why is it difficult sometimes to take instruction or advice from others? What is some advice you were glad you heeded? How can good advice and instruction help you gain wisdom in the future?

Paws & Pray

God, thank you for your instruction. Soften my heart so that I will be willing to accept advice and direction from people who desire my good. Please give me wisdom, discernment, and courage so that I will know when and how to offer godly counsel to others.