The Saga of Titus

This is my cat, Titus.

He's a very frustrating cat. Last year I desperately wanted a second cat, because our current cat, Tarzan, only loved my husband and not me. I wanted a cat to love ME. I was five months pregnant, and I was very stupid. If I had just waited a few months, I would have realized that once the baby came, I could care less about any cats.

Regardless, we got a cat. He lived next door to my mom, and every time we came over he was so friendly and sweet. One time Tarzan stayed over there for a weekend while we were on vacation, and the two of them played and played. We thought, "wow! A cat Tarzan likes and gets along with! Wish he were ours!" When they neighbors found out we felt that way, they offered him to us. Said that it was their daughter's cat and she was getting married to an allergic guy. So after a week of Trevor ho-humming, not sure (I was totally sure) we brought him home.

Big Mistake.

Now I'm going to take a page out of Leslie's book and just list it all out.

Why I love this cat:

• He's super friendly. All the neighbors know and like him. He goes into their houses. Sometimes in the middle of the night through the dog door.
• He's NICE. He never scratches unless seriously provoked. When kids come over, we tell them to pet Titus, not Tarzan--who would as soon kill them and bury them in the backyard.
• He has some funny habits. Like he goes on walks with us. (Well, Tarzan does too...) He does some pretty funny things. He likes dogs, and he likes other cats too.
• He's cuddly. He will always let you pet him, likes to jump up on your chest and lay there, and will sleep with you--though he tends to lay down in weird places, or just wants to sleep on your chest or your side.

Why this cat is sometimes a demon from hell:

• He sheds like no other. His fur is everywhere. The stairs are COVERED in it. He's way worse than Tarzan. Drives me crazy.
• HE NEVER SHUTS UP. This cat meows constantly. I mean ALL THE TIME. In the middle of the night especially. And he doesn't want anything--he just wakes you up and meows and meows, and he doesn't want you to pet him or feed him or let him out. He just wants to be annoying.
• He's not bright. At all. The cat is incapable of learning anything. All attempts to train him have failed. When you squirt water at him, he just looks at you like "what?"
• He TERRORIZES Tarzan. They used to play all the time. Then Afton came and Tarzan decided he was done being friends. Hates him. But Titus doesn't care. He still attacks him at every opportunity, which results in huge cat fights in the middle of the house. I mean, screaming yowling cat fights from one room to the next.

So what do you do? Do you put up with this for the next fifteen years until one of them croaks? Honestly, since having a baby--I could care less about having cats at all. If they were both gone tomorrow I'd jump for joy. It's amazing how little pets can mean to you after you have a family. And we realized pretty quick that the family we got him from was just trying to get rid of him. Their daughter actually got ANOTHER cat after we took Titus!! Can you believe that??

So yesterday, I got desperate. I have begged Trevor to let me put Titus up on KSL. He IS a good pet, and would be great for another family. One with kids, or dogs, or a house full of deaf people. He's been pretty adamant about me not doing it. I don't see why--I mean, it's not like we're taking him to the humane society where he might get put down! We're finding a home for him that will be a better fit!

So I just DID IT. I put up an ad yesterday morning. I even mentioned that he's not bright and that he's very vocal. I really didn't think anyone would call. I planned on telling Trevor as soon as he called on his way home from work. But then things got crazy and I totally forgot.

So how does he find out? Yikes. We're at the store, with Henry and the baby, and my phone rings. I'm paying for the items so I hand my phone to Trevor. He answers it, then looks at me with this betrayed look on his face and says, "You put Titus on KSL?" AHH!!!! He plays it totally cool and talks to the guy, who says he'll talk to his wife and call us back.

We get in the car, and I say, "On a scale of one to ten, how made are you?" He says "10." OUCH.

I see now that I really should not have done this.

So when the guy calls back, I just tell him that my husband didn't know I put him up and isn't ready to give him up. I mean, he was gonna come from ROY to see him. I felt so bad being an Indian-giver like that. AND I CAME THIS CLOSE TO GETTING RID OF HIM!!! DAMNIT!!!!

So now we're back to square one. Still have Titus. Trevor forgave me, because he's amazing that way, but I really don't think he'll let me put him on KSL again. But it's good to know that if we ever DO decide to get rid of him, it won't be hard to find him a good family. Am I a jerk? Please! Tell me what you think!(If you've gotten this far. This post is a novel...) What would YOU do?