Easter Lilly Taylor Creekmore

I woke up this morning to Toby yelling obscenitites from the kitchen because he stepped in cat poop on one foot and then a hairball on the other. Yeah, I'm chuckling a little bit as I type that...but actually, it's not funny. Because this is it. It's time for me to face what I have been avoiding for a year (or longer.) Easter needs to have a new home.

I got Easter during the summer before my senior year in college (1998.) I had never had an animal before in my life!! And I was living on my own, had my own apartment in NC, and I had the strong desire to get a pet. A kitten. I was broke as a joke and living off of my credit card so I went to the Avery County Animal Shelter and picked out a kitty and put the $20 on my AT&T Mastercard. I remember going into the cat room and looking around at all the cats climbing all over the place and running up to me and rubbing on my leg....when I spotted this little tiny calico fluff ball in the middle of the room. She was asleep despite all of the commotion. I picked her up and knew that she was the one. She had JUST arrived at the shelter - and I got her. It was meant be! She was 6 weeks old and was barely bigger than my hand. She had to be spayed before I could take her home so I signed all of the papers and left...and waited a few days for her arrival.

I went back to pick her up and I remember the ride home very well. She was wailing from her crate and I was talking to her... all the while, we were jamming to "Boys on the Radio" by Hole. The CD had just come out and was a constant in my car. :) For some reason, I always think of that song as my "Bringing home Easter" song.

I named her Easter after a Tori Amos song called "Crucify." The words go:
"I know a cat named Easter and he said, will you ever learn? You're just an empty cage girl till you kill the bird. Why do we crucify ourselves......" I was a big Tori freak in college.

From then on, Easter was my buddy. It was just the 2 of us until I got married in February 2005. We lived in Banner Elk, NC until I finished school. She would make the 6 hour drives home with me to Mom and Dad's house in Richmond, VA for breaks and visits. Then in June 1999, Denny and I moved permanently to Richmond after I graduated. It was just me, Denny, and Easter for awhile...until I had a job interview at an area hotel and the lady interviewing me had a cat in her office (!!!) She explained that she brought it in to give it to this lady who never showed...and she asked me if I wanted it. I called Denny and he said yes so I took her home for him. I didn't get the job but I got a cat!

She was a little bitty black cat and Denny named her Scarlet Pussy (after Prince, of course.) At first, the atmosphere in our house was not too pretty. Easter was NOT happy. But after a few weeks, she warmed up to Scarlet and I'd catch them all snuggled together on the couch...They were buddies for 3 years.

It was some time in those next 3 years that Easter started pooping on the floor, RIGHT outside of the litter box. I talked to the vet about it and he really didn't have a clue, since she always peed in the box. She obviously wasn't afraid of it. He just said not to punish her by putting her nose in it or anything - and to reward her when she DID use the litter box. And that's what I did...but the floor poops were still happening.....

I moved out of that apartment to live on my own in 2002. I remember that I left Easter at Denny's until I had moved all of my boxes and unpacked...so I could just plop her in the new apartment and she'd be fine. I didn't want boxes and shuffling and unpacking to make her nervous about her new home. I think she missed Scarlet for awhile but pretty soon got acclimated and was the Queen of her new castle. I'm sure she was like "It's mine! All mine!" We lived there for a little over a year.... And the poops were still happening.

It was when I lived in this apartment that Toby and I started dating. She didn't care for him right off the bat - and I know it's because he was taking me away from her. :) She was jealous and protective. She'd sit across the room and give him evil stares. She even attacked his arm from under the bed when he reached down to grab his glass of water. She was waiting!!! (Thinking about that still makes me laugh!) And don't even get me started on the time he took her to his house to keep her while I was in Chicago for 3 days.... Not good times. But they are funny now. She's my girl. Always has been. She was just looking out for me.

Then I moved into my parents' garage apartment to save money for my wedding. Easter girl came with me, of course. My parents are not animal people at all - remember, I had never had an animal my whole life. But they got attached to Easter too and my Dad would play with her when he'd come to my place...and my Mom would come out there and Easter would "talk" to her. Mom called Easter her "Grand Kitty" and bought her presents for Christmas. It's kind of sickening actually. :)

That apartment has a big picture window right in the front that faces the driveway. Easter liked to look out of that window. I had a trunk in front of that window but it still wasn't tall enough for Easter to sit or lay on the truck and be able to see outside, so every morning before I left, I would put my vanity seat on top of the trunk and that is where Easter would sit ALL DAY LONG. I don't think there was one time when I pulled up into the driveway to come home and Easter wasn't in the window. She'd see me pull up and jump off of her pedastal and run to the door to greet me. EVERY TIME.

Over the years, I have tried everything to fix the poop-on-the-floor-in-front-of-the-litter-box problem. I've tried every brand of litter - twice! I've tried cleaning the box 10 times a day. I've tried small boxes, big boxes, boxes with tops, boxes without tops. I've placed the litter box in a private corner and in the middle of the room. I've used treats to reward her when I would catch her actually USING the box to poop (which wasn't that often) and when she would use the box, I'd analyze the environment to try and figure out why was it ok this time? But I never got repeat performances.... and honestly, I just kind of gave up.

But I lived by myself. I'd get a paper towel, pick up the turd(s), spray a squirt of cleaner, done deal. It truly was not a big production to me. I'd much rather have to pick up a turd than deal with cat pee in upholstry or carpet. I just dealt with it.

Now I'm married. And I moved in with my husband and HIS cat, Katie and his dog, Abby. Easter, of course, came with me. The house is small and the only place the litter box can go is in the utility area which is right off of the kitchen which is part of the living room. All one big open space. In the center of our home. Poop on the floor is not good. No matter how easy it is to clean up....and I certainly do a lot of that because Toby refuses to clean up after Easter. He'll let a turd sit for 3 days if I'm out of town before he'll pick it up with a paper towel and put it in the trash can.

With our house being so small, it does feel like a zoo with just 2 cats. There's cat hair tumbleweeds on the hardwood floors constantly. The couches are covered...and as soon as I clean a hairball off of the upholstery with some fabric cleaner, another one shows up the next day and the couches really are disgusting. (But Toby said we can never get new furniture while we have the cats because they ruin it- and I know he's right.) Katie tends to get vocal and cry for our attention at 3am most nights which is NOT appreciated by either of us. The litter boxes take up half of the utility room... and then there is the poop which sends Toby into a frenzy. He is CONSTANTLY yelling about this or that in regards to a cat; especially Easter. They just have never gotten along. I'm tired of protecting and defending the cats day in and day out. I'm stressed. I can't take the yelling and cussing when he nearly trips over a cat trying to walk across the floor or when he gets overwhelmed. It's too much for me to deal with, especially right now. I can't end up in divorce court over a cat. I need peace.

And this leads me to the BIGGEST reason why we need to clear the house of animals: OUR CHILD.

I want a clean house. A house I can clean and it will stay that way for 5 minutes. A house where I don't have to clean cat litter boxes when I'm pregnant (I know, I know. Please don't tell me that's bad. I know it is.) A house that is clear and quiet and free of cat hair. A house where we can get new carpet and get new furniture...and fix up the nursery and leave the door open. And a house where there is no yelling and cussing about cats. And not worry about the baby with animals. THAT would be heaven.

But in order to get these things, I have to give away my constant companion who has been there with me through EVERYTHING over the past 8 years - the most crucial years of my life so far. And that breaks my heart into a million pieces.

I looked up the Richmond SPCA today and they accept "surrendered" animals by appt and interview. They are a no-kill shelter; which makes me feel better even though they could totally be lying... but let me live in denial. I have told Toby that HE has to call them, HE has to make the appt, and HE has to take them to the SPCA and do the interview. I CAN NOT do it. I guess we will talk about the details this evening...get ready for niagara falls of tears...it is going to have to happen this week. This can not be prolonged at all. Quick and painless like pulling off a band-aid. Yeah right.

Just thinking of her sweet face makes me bust into tears...and thinking about her in a strange place with other animals... She's not overly-friendly with anyone but me... she'll usually warm up to people but it takes a long time. Will people know to give her time??? Ughhhhhhhh.

She's not going to do well. And my heart is breaking. This is hardest thing I have ever had to do thus far in my life.

Please say A LOT of prayers for me this week. I need them desperately.