Meet Charlie.

… or Lunar, or Toby, or Hoagie, depending on who you ask.

He’s the newest love of my life.

I swear he called me to him. We typically visit Petsmart about once every two weeks as an “activity”– we watch the available cats for adoption, smile as the doggies get haircuts, giggle at the antics of the puppies in Doggy Daycare, and pick up a treat for a favorite dog of ours.

However, a few weeks ago I got that feeling. The feeling I had to visit Petsmart. That we needed to go by and visit the kitties. I even arranged for my husband to meet us for lunch next door… you know, just in case.

We almost never see volunteers in with the cats because we go at odd times. Of course, this time there was a volunteer inside cleaning the cages. She invited us inside. When she started talking about a beautiful adult black and white cat named Lunar, my ears perked up. He’s five years old. He’s lived in several homes in his young life, including a stint outdoors. She thought he was declawed because he NEVER showed his nails. He’s gentle. He loves kids and other cats.

He even curls his little toes, as if to say, ‘I won’t hurt you.’

It’s funny, because I always tuck in my toes too. Not because I’m trying to say I won’t harm you (which, hello, I wouldn’t) but because I’m either cold or having a nightmare about being lost in the open ocean and I’m afraid sharks are going to bite me. Do you have that nightmare too?

Forget I mentioned that.

Anyways.

Want to have your heart melt? When they first found him, he was taking care of a box full of kittens. The foster families thought he was their mom until a visit to the vet revealed he was a boy. When we saw him at Petsmart, he was trying to get into the cage with the other kittens to snuggle with them. He’s a Mr. Mom!

After lunch, we brought my husband over to meet him. He turned to me and said, “so, what are we going to name him?” I knew then he was ours.

Our application was approved that night. We braved a snowy Saturday the next day to bring him home. He’s so beautiful and sweet. He even matches our kitchen.

About 24 hours after we brought him home, my husband started sneezing something fierce and went through a box of tissues in just a few hours. Turns out he’s highly allergic to our new cat.

I’m going to miss him. My husband, I mean. The cat is staying. 😉

Lunar is his given name, but my kids have a hard time pronouncing ‘Ls’ so it comes out as “Woo-ner”. We decided he should have a new name to go with his new home. I really liked Charlie and started calling him that before we even brought him home. My husband has been trying to convince me to call him Hoagie, but once he started sneezing changed his tune and wants to call him Allergen. My daughter still likes ‘Wooner’. My son has started calling him Toby after his favorite train. Obviously our cat is going to have multiple personality disorder by the end of the week.

We’re really going to try to manage the allergy. I’m ordering a HEPA air filter. I’m going to brush the cat outside every few days. We’ve stocked up on Claritin and tissues. We’re closing off our bedroom so the cat doesn’t sleep on our bed. Which is where he slept most of the day. We’re not very good at this yet. But I do know this cat is now part of our family, we’re all so in love.

Just thought you’d like to meet the new addition. This is the first time I’ve ever owned a nice cat. I’m still stunned when he allows me to pick him up, when he snuggles on my shoulder, or gives me massages.

Truly, I think it’s not so much that we adopted him. I think he adopted us. And now I need some ideas on how we can beat this allergy thing. Because I just went downstairs to check on Charlie, and he’s snuggled up in my husband’s lap. Which says more about the character of both cat and husband than I can even put into words. 🙂

HELP. Any ideas on how to deal with a cat allergy?