To Keep or Not to Keep: Cat is the Question.

We've had two families offer to keep Hero.

I love my kitty. She's been with us since just after we were married. We helped her raise 10 kittens, because we were feeling very grandparently. She's killed hundreds of mice, lizards, large insects and even animals close to her size which shall remain unnamed to spare unnecessary pain to certain blog readers. Most recently, she went at a neighbor's dog for sniffing her rear.

Once, there were three flies in the house that we couldn't manage to kill. We let Hero in the house and all three were not only dead, but consumed within 10 minutes.

She fell asleep chewing Mike's finger as a tiny kitten. That was cute.

We put little plastic nail caps on her once to keep her from scratching the screen door, so she sat next to the glass sliding doors and screeched the plastic caps on the glass for 10 minutes.

She pretends to meow at the door when she thinks it's closed so she doesn't have to waste energy actually making noise.

She is completely self-sufficient when she needs to be, but is a happy little friend to have around and Sky loves her (from a distance, or if she's in the mood to pet her "but just on the head").

She's also a racist, and left her little orange tabby kitten Oliver for dead.

Our rental house in San Ramon will allow us to keep her, but we'll be in a neighborhood with lots of houses and itty bitty yards. Mike is allergic, so she's strictly an outdoor cat. Where will she chillax? I don't think there are even many mice around that neighborhood for her to chase, and she won't have much space in the small garage.

Our next door neighbors came to talk with Mike today and requested to keep our cat.

We may let them keep her. She'd be right at home on this street where we've lived for 2 1/2 years. Our neighbor's mom moved in with her and probably gives Hero more attention than we do these days. She let it slip to me that she lets Hero in their house while her daughter and son-in-law are at work.

I asked Sky about it.

Sky: "But...then Hero will be all alone." (She really doesn't like people--or pets--to be alone.)
Me: "She wouldn't be alone. Our neighbors would keep her and pet her and give her treats. She would be their kitty."
Sky: "I don't want people to take my kitty cat!"

Sky is upset that we're "letting those other people live in our house and not us." She is very upset that we're selling her playset. ("I don't want other kids to play on my slide! It's my slide!") And now we're considering leaving the cat behind.

Sheesh. We're jerks!