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adventuresofarainbowcrip · 3 years

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Disabled cat mom life : Caring for my new kitten while having a physical disability! ^..^

Written and posted on December 24th, 2021 :

It’s been just a little over a month since I adopted my kitten Ellie. I knew I wanted to get a cat when I moved out, but I also knew that I wanted to wait a while, until I was settled in and confident in taking care of myself. Life happened and I was sort of putting it off. Around mid-October, my brother began reminding me that if I really wanted to get a cat, I should probably contact the management and ask about the form I’d turned in back in August. Now, I’m super grateful that he pushed me gently to do this because I would not have found Ellie otherwise. The form I gave to my apartment is a form signed by my doctor which states that having a cat as an emotional support animal will help me with my anxiety. This is the only way that tenants are allowed to own pets at my apartment building. Once I checked in and made sure that this form was going to the right place, it was time to start looking for a kitty!

I knew I wanted a black and white “splotchy kitty.” At first I was looking at cats that were black and white spotted. There is a cat named Domino who lives by my parents’ house and she is black and white, like a cow with a splotchy nose. I found Ellie’s profile by chance and thought her face and little nose was so cute! Even though she looked to be a tuxedo cat, I still thought she was very cute. I put in the application that weekend, and within about 10 days I was making the trek to Tillamook, Oregon, a town near the coast about two hours away. My mentor Nikki and I drove out to get her.

Her first couple of days with us, she was scared. On the first night, she hid most of the time, and cried a lot. But after about two days, she started to be less afraid and now she loves living with us! She is a very social cat, she enjoys being petted and picked up and likes to sit on your lap if you are on the couch. She is very playful and curious. My brother taught her how to fetch, and now she is so good at it! She sometimes drops the ball right into our hand.

Here is some of what I have learned about having my own cat and also about caring for a cat with a physical disability.

1) Ellie has helped me a lot with my mental and physical health.

I wasn’t doing badly when I got Ellie, but now I am doing even better. She helps me because now when I wake up, instead of thinking about how I feel physically right away (how bad are my allergies today? Do I have a headache / stomachache?) I say good morning to her and she makes me smile. I now have to care for another living being besides myself, which gets me out of my own mind and body. I talk less about how I don’t feel good, because I am less focused on that. Ellie also helps me feel calmer, and helps me with anxiety. Petting her and playing with her is fun and calming. Animals help to lower human blood pressure which is amazing.

2) Ellie has adjusted to my mobility equipment and even likes it!

I have grown up with many cats but they were mostly adults when we got them and they were not often around my scooter because I kept it in our neighbor’s garage outside. When Ellie first arrived, she was nervous about my canes and walker and scooter. After a few days, she started following me around and rubbing on my canes. Now she sometimes tries to play with them like toys. I’d much rather that than her be afraid of them. She is now used to my walker as well and likes to climb on it and in my basket (see photos below)! She likes to climb on my scooter as well now. She even climbed on it last week while it was on...I was going super slow and took her for a little ride. I am still trying to teach her to be cautious of it when it’s moving, I would hate to hurt her by accident.

3) She seems to understand that my body is different in some way.

Ellie is very playful, and will sometimes jump up onto my brother’s pant leg when she is feeling energetic. She does this to him probably a few times a week. In contrast, she has only done this to me twice I think. I was holding onto something and was fine, but I could be knocked off balance if I wasn’t holding onto something. It seems like she understands in some way that I am not someone who she can jump on. Maybe it is in part because I almost always have some mobility equipment around me, and that makes my body “less accessible” to her. But I also think that she just knows somehow. My mom used to tell me that if I ever decided to have kids, that they would see my mobility equipment as a part of my life, and they would learn for example, that I cannot run after them and to listen to my words more. I don’t know if I will ever have or adopt kids, but I have been around lots of young kids and seen them get used to my mobility devices. Ellie just sees these things as part of my life, and part of the way I move, which is very cool.

4) I can do most things for Ellie, but it’s okay to ask for help!

I happen to have enough mobility so that I can do most things for my cat. I feed her, play with her, scoop her litter. The reality is that, because of my balance (or lack of it) and other mobility differences, I have to have help with certain things. like carrying very heavy boxes of cat litter, changing the litter, filling her water bowl, clipping her nails (a two-person job) or giving her medicine. My mentor helped me clip her nails (I held Ellie while she clipped). Hopefully soon I can try clipping her nails while someone hold her. My brother helps me change her water and change the litter. He holds open a trash bag while I pour the old litter out, and helps to pour new litter in. I figured out that I can fill up her water by pouring some of the water out of my water bottle into her bowl.

5) This is just a general thing I’ve realized, not specific to having a pet while being disabled. Pet supplies are expensive!

I have never cared for a cat fully on my own before, so I didn’t really have any idea of how much things cost. Toys, litter box, cat trees... it adds up. The litter I buy is around 16 dollars for a large 40 pound box. I have decided to change the litter every two weeks, scooping litter every couple of days and adding a bit more. I am feeding Ellie a mixture of dry food and wet food. Her dry food is a mixture of cheaper food (my mom calls it Twinkies for cats haha) and more expensive food that cost 13 dollars a bag. I still have about half a bag left of the fancier food. I buy a canned cat food on the cheaper end called Fancy Feast that comes in lots of flavors. I am still trying to figure out ways to save money and still take good care of her. Luckily I found a place that will spay her for 60 dollars (as opposed to the 600 dollar estimates I was given by vet clinics in my area! Outrageous. No one should have to pay that much.

That being said, it is totally worth it to spend some of my money to care for such a lovely little companion. I love her so much already and I am so happy and grateful that I found her. Her full name is Eleanor Elvira Domino Flooreo Fairbanks. I can tell that she loves me too and that is a wonderful feeling.

Do you have any kind of disability and have a pet or pets? How do they help you and how do you care for them while being disabled?

#disabledcatmom #disabledcatmomlife #ilovecats #mycatmakesmehappy #cerebralpalsy #tuxedocat #livingindependentlywithadisability

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