Merry Christmas Everyone! I hope you have everything your heart desires. To be honest I am struggling and with several triggers that I can’t really talk about so I thought I would talk about my cat Xavier (pronounced Javier) Rock’On. He is such a special animal. I am sure that your pets are special to you too. Animals are very special.
Before Xavier came to me I had a dream about a cat that looked like him and in the dream his name was Javier…I like the X better. When my, then, 7-year-old nephew came into the church sanctuary where we were with him cradled in his arms, I was sold. His mother couldn’t have him but I could. The deal was he would be mine but he would be my nephew’s too. When my, then, 4-year-old nephew came over he was sad that he did get to name the cat so I let him give him a middle name and that is where Rock’On came into the picture and it seems to fit.
Xavier has been a handful since day one. He taught me that he was a very sensitive cat and he needed peace, even when his behavior was bad. No yelling or any form of discipline really worked to train him, it only made his behavior worse. He is a biter and he has to rub is paws, either with or without his claws on walls, carpet and furniture…which helped me to have a little peace after I had his claws removed. What did work? Positive reinforcement when he was doing what I wanted and guiding the acceptable behavior.
Luckily he is terrified of heights so he only climbed the drapes a couple times and brought the Christmas tree down once…until he learned it was much better to nap under the tree when we left a space under it for him. He quit jumping on the dining room table as long as I gave him a chair next to me. He stopped climbing on the kitchen cabinets once we gave up the fight on sitting water and let the bathtub slowly drip…he will not drink sitting water…it just isn’t going to happen. He doesn’t eat stale food so I feed him 4 times a day but that also gives me time to spend with him…
In return, because most of his feeding times are times I need to take meds, so he nags me until he sees me take them. He knows when I am having a nightmare and when I am going to be sick so he wakes me up so I can take care of myself. He also knows when Karen has overslept her alarm and gets her out of bed to go to work. He knows when we should go to bed and rallies for bedtime like a Drill Sargent.
I love that he has a personal relationship with me and with Karen. I get to hold him and do all the nurturing things. Karen gets kisses and she is the fun mom that gives treats and plays with him. He doesn’t let us switch places very often. But I have been struggling a lot the last few days. He climbed into my arms and kissed me three times on the cheek. I thought, “Wow! I must be a queen today!”
I have known Xavier since he was taken from his mother and I got to box train him and been there for all his phases. He had never been an overly cuddly cat and he has a lot of boundaries. But he does like to be brushed. As he has gotten older I try really hard to brush him at least every other day because I know it is getting harder for him to reach everything. When I brush him, he tries to keep his left rear leg away from me. I think that joint hurts the most, so I am gentle when I reach around and over to try to brush it anyway, blindly. I am surprised with how cold it is, how much hair I have been removing off of him every day this week, but yesterday was his day for his flea treatment. I always brush him for as long as he will let me on that day because when he licks the solution he shows signs of an allergy to it. I have tried lots of other methods but nothing works like the topical treatment I use, and he is allergic to fleas so we soldier on and if I can brush him for 30 minutes it absorbs into his skin enough that it doesn’t bother him as much.
Yesterday he purposely stood with his left back leg faced to me and I thought that was odd. I began brushing and I noticed that all the things he usually fights me on, he wasn’t fighting me on. Until I found a mat in his fur. If he has ever, had one, I don’t remember it. I tried to brush it out but it would not budge. Eventually I grabbed some scissors and cut it out. He looked worried. He has the most expressive eyes. When I told him everything was ok and I was happy to help him, he waited and the minute it was removed, he looked to relieved.
Xavier has taught me a lot about myself. I am a sensory person too. Lights and sounds are hard for me. Too many people overwhelm me. People that take too much make me flare up and get sick. I go out of my way to protect him from stress so he doesn’t get sick..I am learning to do the same for myself. We thrive in a peaceful place with good music, thoughtful people, good books and lots of love. And it is nice to know that when we need help there is someone there to help us, whether it is to remind me to take me meds or someone to cut the mats out of our fur…
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Feel free to leave your comments below!
My name is Summer. That is how you can call me. I hope that I am a blessing to you. I am not perfect. I will fall again. But I am forgiven.
For anyone reading this that isn’t a Christian, unapologetically, I am a Christian, but I believe there is room for lots of beliefs and religions in the world. It is not my intent to offend people with different beliefs than I have and I would be open to open-minded conversations with no goals of changing anyone’s mind, but sharing information.
If you are interested in becoming a Christian…Do you know Jesus? Do want the Holy Spirit to fill you and give you understanding and salvation? Ask Him. Want someone to pray with you? Contact me.
If you would like to know Jesus as your friend, but want to make this amazing commitment by yourself please pray something like this:
Thank you Jesus that You are the Son of God, the God that created heaven and earth. Thank you Jesus that You came to earth in the form of a man so that You would be able to empathize with my humanity. Thank You that You did this in order to fulfill the promises You made at the foundation of the world.
I realize that I am a sinner and do things that hurt myself and keep myself away from you. Thank You that You died for my sins so that You could defeat death and bring me into Your life. Please forgive me.
I ask You to be Lord of my life. I ask you to heal my hurts and show me what my new life, empowered by You looks like. Thank You for Your mercy.
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