Rosie Was an Independent Feline

My cat Rosie was an independent feline. She did not want anything to do with any visitors. I wouldn’t even see her until the company left.

The exception is family and friends who are allergic to cats.

My nephew would come to visit occasionally. And it is a stretch, but Rosie would all of a sudden be sitting on his shoulders, as he sat on the sofa. He is 6'10" tall.

It happened more than once. My friend Rose would come by, and Rosie would insist on sitting on the sofa right next to her. She was an independent feline.

Now I have a love for the independence of cats. They are less work than dogs and can take care of themselves pretty well for much of a week, with food and water available.

The sad part of this is Rosie has been gone for about twenty years. She got sick and was suffering and was put to sleep.

Shortly after she died, I developed an allergy to cats. My son had three cats. A mother and 2 babies. I would go there and get itchy in about 15 minutes.

Nothing has changed. I take two allergy pills a day when around cats and dogs. For dogs my ears itch and I am sick to my stomach for three days after being around them.

Since the pandemic almost everyone has pets. The pandemic caused lots of alone time. Without pets that would be a more serious problem. Almost everyone I know has pets.

It was fairly common for families to have one pet. Now, it isn’t one pet. And a few families I know have a pet for every member of the family.

My most hated allergy is my allergy to pets. The story about Rosie's attraction to allergic people is my story too. Pets are drawn to me. I thought for a while it was because I do Reiki. Energy healing. Then I remembered how Rose was drawn to people allergic to her!

What is a person to do? Have you seen those ugly hairless cats? They are supposed to be hypoallergenic. I’m sorry, I can’t get past the look. Look again at the picture above. That’s why!

There are also hypoallergenic dogs. So far, I still get the reaction. Maybe not as bad. Maybe my body doesn’t know the difference. Like, “Hey body, this dog is okay. You can’t be allergic to this dog. It is hypoallergenic!”

Then, I think I have a response to dog/cat people too. I am a hugger and at times I believe I feel different after hugging a cat/dog person.

To stay at any of our children’s when visiting, I am really good about taking allergy medicines and I can make it through the overnight and even two overnight stays. Then I am itchy and sick for three days at home. It feels like I do the only thing I can do.

Otherwise, I read cat/dog stories, watch cat and dog video, and hope that a remedy for allergies is found. The medication I take does not do it. I’m sure it helps as I haven’t had any throat-closing symptoms in 20 years!

That time I told the doctor it was from Dreft laundry detergent. He didn’t want to believe that. After all, that is baby clothes detergent. Who would want to believe someone could be allergic to a baby laundry detergent? Made as a mild and gentle formula for babies.

The doctor said it was probably a bug of some sort. I haven’t used Dreft since then as I’m not that interested in finding out. It was so clearly connected to the use of the Dreft that someone left behind that I believe it was the Dreft.

This is my attempt to remember the last pet I had and loved. Rosie.

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First published by Mercury Press on medium.com