Seriously supper fluffy

My daughter discovered her hamster was missing about a month or so after the evil critter started running on the big wheel in the sky. She never came right out and asked what happened to it, but she’d say things like, “I want to get a new pet. Not a mean one like that hamster we had, maybe a new hamster, a nicer one like Peanut was.” Peanut was my son’s hamster and she was just about the most perfect pet anyone could ever want.

Well, I wasn’t going to allow another rodent in our home. I was sick of the smell of bedding and tired of the sound of wheels turning at all hours of the night. If we got another pet for the indoor setting, it was going to be something we could all fall in love with.

I considered my cat allergy and wondered how I could live with it. We could vacuum more and bathe a cat like my sister-in-law, Magan, does with their feline.

This was all solidified when my sister, Meredith, came into possession of a lost kitten. She was just a baby around 6 weeks old found in a car bumper. Meredith couldn’t keep the tiny thing because of the cat situation in her own house being so volatile. Apparently, her two grown cats were quite aggressive towards this new bundle of fur.

After a discussion with my husband, Chris, we decided to adopt Lili, the adorable Siamese-mix orphan in need of a good, caring home.

Lili immediately wrapped all our hearts around her little paws even though she is vicious and thinks she is about the size of a Bengal tiger. She relentlessly attacks us all day long. Our feet and hands are forever vulnerable and we try not to wiggle them too much unless we want to feel sharp, pointed fangs sunk into them every few seconds.

When she isn’t trying to chew our skin, she is applying saliva to her fur or on my favorite blanket. We started calling it the “Mommy Blanket” because she nurses it and paws at it like it’s a mother cat. It is pretty disgusting really. I often want to say, “Do you need some time alone? Am I interrupting something here?”

I did give her a bath after the first few days. She was too small for any flea shampoo so I had to use Dawn Dish Soap. She was loaded with fleas before I got ahold of her. I’ll say she tolerated the bath as best she could, but not one iota more.

Because of Lili’s bad behavior with our appendages, we had to begin correcting her in a nonviolent fashion. To do this, we purchased a squirt bottle. Now, if she attacks us too aggressively or unnecessarily claws at the unsuspecting furniture, we mist her with water. She is on a learning curve at the moment and yes, that is an understatement.

I thought the mister was a great tool so I started using it on the kids. When they argued, I’d squirt them and say, “Cut it out! No! Bad!” They got angry, but they stopped what they were doing immediately. It was effective until my husband confiscated the bottle because he said I was abusing and misusing it.

Even though I sneeze about three times a day and the litter box is totally gross, Lili has been a welcome addition to our family. Honestly, every sneeze is a “Thank you” to Lili for not being a hamster.