#I did months of research and consulting with friends who own cats before adopting

[rissynicole]

I just adopted my very first cat and this shit is so weird. It’s like there’s a tiny panther in my apartment

[twoghostys]

the one where they’re soulmates

10.6k words

Zayn handed her glass of water and a pair of Alanna’s best heels, “come on,” he rushed, “you’re going to be late.”

Dawn sat on the edge of Zayn's couch and took her time drinking every drop of water before bending forward to strap the shoes belonging to Zayn’s soulmates into her feet. She fumbled with them a bit, confused as to how to wrap the strips around her ankles before huffing in exasperation and sitting back. Zayn sighed and knelt down without a word to wrap them himself. “Anna can’t do them herself either, don’t know why she bought them. I always end up having to fix them for her.”

“You’re her soulmate,” Dawn responded, “it’s what you’re made for.” Zayn smiles fondly, the way he does whenever anyone mentions that Alanna’s his soulmate. Dawn couldn’t help but mirror his smile as she watched him, her best friend was absolutely smitten with his girlfriend. His countdown had gone to 00:00 on the same day Dawn had gone into a shelter to adopt a kitten. They were standing at the front desk, waiting for an employee to bring her new pet when Alanna walked up with a cat in her arms. Dawn remembers how Zayn tensed, grabbing her arm and shoving his wrist in front of her eyes for her to see his countdown rush to zero. Just as it did, Alanna looked up, clueless that her countdown was mirroring Zayns. She handed Dawn the cat and was telling her some last minute details, but Dawn was gaping at Zayn and he at the beautiful chestnut skinned beauty across from him. They’d been inseparable since, and Dawn still claimed she was the one that brought them together.

Zayn tsked, “I know what you’re doing. Don’t try to distract me, you have to go to this release party!”

Dawn groaned, kicking her leg at him in a small fit, “you know I hate these things.”

Her best friend nodded, “it’s why we’re friends, we’d both rather stay here and marathon Jurassic Park instead of going to a bougie social event. But this is for your future, and I’ll be your date. So how bad can it get?”

“I don’t know anyone there, they’re all going to be Ph.D. owning rich people and I’m going to humiliate myself.”

Zayn finished tying the last strap and clapped in celebration, “it’s a good networking event, plus, you were invited by the author of the book! You belong there.”

Dawn took the hand he had extended for her and let him pull her up, “he’s only inviting me so we can meet face to face before the school year starts. He’s my thesis advisor.”

“He could meet you at a coffee shop, this is him introducing you to his academic circles. The man’s already started mentoring you.”

But Dawn was still nervous to go. Realistically, she knew she had too, and that it would be good for her. But the list of reasons not to go was a mile long. For one, she knew that all those accomplished academics would make her feel stupid. Hell, they probably think she’s stupid. And, she’d have to explain over and over again that No, Zayn isn’t my soulmate. Just my friend. Yes, I’m a woman in my twenties and haven’t found my soulmate yet. My countdown is broken.

As Zayn locked the door to his apartment behind them, Dawn pulled out her phone to double check the address her advisor had sent her. She read over his email one last time before locking her phone. Her eyes shifted to the numbers on her wrist, and she couldn’t help the feeling of devastation that clawed at her chest as she watched her countdown continue to glitch, like it had been for the past three months.

30:00

05:00

00:00

20:00

02:04:00

She doesn’t know what caused it, and the experts she consulted were just as baffled and lost. So Dawn had since accepted that her countdown was broken, that something was wrong with her, and she wouldn’t find her soulmate. Quickly, she covered her wrist with the sleeve of her blue dress before Zayn saw her moping. He always got upset when he saw her looking at her countdown. “Ready to go?” he asked, a comforting hand finding its place on the small of her back. Dawn hummed her response, and they set off.

~~~

The book release party was a bigger event than she thought it would be. Dawn had been there for almost 20 minutes and hadn’t yet met her advisor. She knew what he looked like from his info page, and because she had a multitude of his books on soulmate research stacked on her desk at home, so there’s no way she could have missed him. In her time at the book release, two people had walked up to her and started a conversation. It seemed like everyone knew that the author had taken on a new graduate student, and she must have looked like a grad student because they both assumed it was her. The two conversations were nice, they started off asking questions about her research, and Dawn explained that her thesis would be about the impact of the soulmate culture on societal rules. For example, there have been many articles about how two men in a very religiously dependant culture find out they’re soulmates, and how it had devastating consequences for everyone. The people were always amazed at her idea and knowledge, one even gave her his card and said he’d like to discuss it further! Then came the haunting part of the conversation.

“Well,” the second one had started, “it’s no news you’re so passionate about soulmate culture, since your soulmate here is ever so handsome.”

Zayn practically choked on his cocktail that time, trying not to laugh at the compliment he was given as he gave Dawn a cocky glance. The man knew he was good looking, but loved when he heard it from other people. Dawn then tried to ignore him as she smiled at the professor in front of her, who was clearly confused by Zayn’s reaction, “he’s not my soulmate,” she would throw in a lighthearted laugh with that, “just a close friend.” Then they would ask her why she didn’t bring her soulmate, because she had to have found them by now. “I haven’t,” she would force a smile, “not yet.”

That time, she was spared the sad oh, and attempt at awkward comfort by an accented voice behind her. “Professor Harmon! I see you’ve met Dawn before I have.” Dawn and Zayn turned to see her advisor walking towards them, a large smile plastered on his dimpled face. Dawn knew he was good looking, she’d seen him before. But the countless pictures on the back of his books did the man standing in front of her no justice. His heeled boots clicked on the wooden ground as he walked to them in his patterned, and clearly expensive, well fitted, suit. But the beauty of his wardrobe choice was dwarfed by the leafy green eyes that fixed themselves on Dawn with a friendly look. She could see little swirls of brown circling the irises and felt as if she could lose her bearings just by looking at his eyes. And his hair, wonderfully styled to make it seem like he didn’t style it at all, with brown curls perfectly circling around the back of his ear and a few falling onto his face. He was perfect, one of the youngest professors in his field (just a few years older than her) and one of the most successful, and now he’s also one of the most beautiful beings she’s laid eyes on. Dawn snapped herself out of her trance as her advisor finished talking to the professor and turned to face her. “Well, I was starting to think you stood me up.”

She must have still been gaping at him, because Zayn elbowed her in the rib to stir her into action. “Oh, of course not! I’ve been here for almost 30 minutes, you’re just too popular is all.”

He chuckled, definitely just humoring her, “ah, all of these people probably think I’m a nut. Anyway, nice to finally meet you Dawn! I can’t wait to discuss your research. I’m Harry Styles.” He extended his hand, introducing himself as if she didn’t already know who he was. The gesture somehow comforted her though, almost as if he were telling her they’re on the same level.

“Nice to finally meet you Dr. Styles,” she shook his hand, ignoring the goosebumps that spread across her body at the contact. “This is my friend Zayn.”

Harry turned to look at Zayn, who was once again in the middle of downing another drink. He looked at the two of us wide-eyed before forcing himself to swallow a big gulp, “it’s nice to meet you,” he coughed, shaking Dr. Styles’ hand, “I’ve heard great things about you.”

“Are you in academics as well?” He asked, his eyes not leaving Zayn’s, as if his answer was incredibly important and he didn’t want to miss a word.

“Um, no I’m an artist,” Zayn smiled.

“Have I seen any of your work?” Once again, Dr. Styles was invested in this conversation, and Dawn could see Zayn perk up at the attention.

“Probably not? I do a lot of contemporary work and it only features in small galleries downtown.”

Dr. Styles nodded, “I go to those all the time actually.”

“Really?” Zayn and I asked at the same time, and he nodded. “What are some of your favorites? Zayn asked.

He thought for a moment before saying, “last week there was this exhibit, it was three paintings set up next to each other and they were absolutely breathtaking. You could tell they were all of the same woman, but each was drawn so differently, yet I couldn’t imagine them not being together. There were no facial features, but the way her hair and body were drawn had an expression to it. I must have stood at that one for fifteen minutes just taking it all in.”

Dawn’s jaw had reached the ground long before he had finished talking, and now she looked over at her best friend, who seemed like he’d forgotten how to breathe, his eyes were practically popping out of their sockets. “That’s uh… that’s mine. Yeah, wow! I can’t believe you saw that.”

“No way!” Now it was Styles’ turn to gape, “you are incredibly talented! What inspired those?”

“My girlfriend,” Zayn had that smile again, “they’re of my girlfriend.”

Styles’ eyes softened, “that’s lovely, your soulmate?” Zayn nodded, and he was practically radiating fondness that all Dawn wanted to do was just coo at him. But before she could, he thanked my mentor again before saying he’d leave them to talk.

It was silent between the two for a while, Dawn could feel him studying her and busied herself by picking up a drink from one of the caters walking by so she could have something to do with her hands. “I see why Zayn keeps drinking these,” Dawn laughed, “they’re wonderful.”

“Don’t let him drink too much,” Styles responded, “most academics need to be loaded with alcohol to socialize like this, so they’re pretty dangerous.” She hummed in response, looking around to spot Zayn grabbing another drink as he made his way to the garden outside.

“This is a lovely home,” Dawn finally spoke up. It truly was, the place was grand and screamed professor. The walls were a calm beige and the decor had a cozy, vintage feeling to it. It reminded Dawn of her own apartment, which had a similar decor style, but everything she had was from thrift stores.

“Thank you,” he responded, “have you had a chance to look at the book?” As he said that, he reached for a stack and opened one, “not to brag but there’s some interesting stuff in there. I think it would perk your interest, considering your work.”

“I was planning on purchasing one before you even said that,” Dawn nodded, “I have all of your books, your work is amazing.”

He rolled his eyes and waved off the compliment with his hand, “here, take this one. Lord knows I have plenty.”

Before Dawn could say anything, a man with a camera walked up to them. “Hello,” he smiled sweetly at the two of them, “Dr. Styles, I’m Liam, the photographer you hired.” Liam nodded his head at Dawn politely. “Would you mind if I take a picture of you as you hand her the book?”

“Um, if it’s okay with you?” he looked at Dawn, his eyebrows quirking up curiously, and she couldn’t say no.

So Liam helped them pose for the picture and snapped it. Before he left, he looked over at Dawn once again, “you look lovely in that dress. Blue is your color.”

Dawn’s face flushed as she thanked him and he walked away. Her mentor gave Liam a tight-lipped smile as he was leaving before turning to Dawn. They talked for a while about meeting times and how she plans to go about her research before he excused himself to go see the other guests. “Find me before you leave,” he gave her a dimpled smile before walking away.

Dawn turned to find Zayn, suddenly feeling drained and unreasonably upset that she was standing alone. She tried not to think that it was because she wanted to talk to Styles’ more. As that thought crossed her mind, she remembered to find the photographer and ask him for that picture. Dawn continued to weave through the people in search of Zayn, growing more and more agitated before realizing that the source of the agitation was the bracelet on her hand. “Must be allergic or something,” she mumbled, slipping it off and folding her sleeve back to itch at the spot. She looked down at the redness, and her heart stopped.

There on her wrist, it read 00:00. And it wasn’t glitching anymore.

~~~

She finally remembered that she’d seen Zayn go to the garden and ran out to find him crouched down amongst the flower bushes, snapping pictures with his phone. He knew she was walking up without looking, “I think I’m going to paint these, there are so many colors it kind of turns me on. Is that weird? Nah, I’m allowed to be weird. You know what else turns me on? Your advisor, kind of. Now that’s weird, but he’s like really pretty and he likes my art. His soulmate is so lucky. Of course, I’m lucky too, I think I’m a little drunk. Those–”

“Zayn shut up.”

“Oi!” he snapped his head to glare at her, “ok! No need to be rude, what’s got you all wound up?” Without a word, Dawn shoved her wrist down to his eye level. Zayn grabbed it and pulled it closer, yanking her down with it. “Holy shit! What does this mean? Did you find them?”

“I don’t know!” Dawn squeaked, trying not to panic. “I stopped looking at that thing a long time ago! I wasn’t paying attention.”

“Okay, okay don’t worry!” Zayn stood up a little too fast and wobbled a bit, “yeah I’m definitely drunk.” He shook his head, “okay focus. Who did you talk to since we got here?”

“You, the two professors, and Dr. Styles?”

Zayn nodded, “who else?”

“No one! What if it’s just broken? I didn’t talk to anyone else I– Oh my god!”

“What? What!” Zayn yelled, still holding onto her wrist and jumping up and down anxiously. He always got loud and weird when he was drunk.

“The photographer!”

“Who? He hired a photographer? This guy’s loaded” he exclaimed, then shook his head. “I don’t care. Focus Malik. Let’s go find your soulmate!”

They found Liam leaning against a wall, deep in concentration as he cleaned one of his camera lenses. Once Dawn pointed him out, Zayn started to pointedly walk towards him until he was pulled back by his best friend. “I don’t know about this.”

The tipsy Zayn rolled his eyes and let out a childish groan, “why? He’s right there! You had given up and he’s right there!” When Dawn chose to bite nervously at her nails instead of respond, Zayn softened, tucking a stray curl behind her ear. “Hey, it’s okay to be nervous, yeah? I’ll be right here the whole time. I was terrified when I met Anna, and you helped me through it. So this is the least I can do.”

Although his words soothed her nerves, Dawn was still hesitant to approach the photographer. Something in her was screaming no! That this wasn’t right. Zayn was patient as she stood there, trying to sort through her thoughts. Dawn had read a multitude of books about soulmates, and you were supposed to know the minute your clock struck zero and you looked into their eyes. Everything was supposed to click immediately and make perfect sense. You were two parts of a whole, and you were supposed to feel the countdown to zero in every atom of your body. But she didn’t feel that, and right now, looking at Liam, she didn’t feel anything.

But if it wasn’t him, he’d tell her, right? He’d confirm all of her doubts and it would be a little humiliating but she’d get it over with. Then she’d know for sure that she doesn’t have a soulmate and she could go on living her life as normally as she could. Right, he’d fix this. With that resolve, Dawn walked up to Liam, conscious of how Zayn was practically vibrating beside her with excitement. “Hi,” she greeted, and Liam’s gaze met hers.

“Hello, would you like a picture?”

Dawn was thrown off, did he not know his clock had gone to zero? Maybe, if he was her soulmate, what was wrong with her was wrong with him too, and he hadn’t noticed yet. “This is going to sound weird but–”

“She’s your soulmate!” Zayn nearly screamed, turning a few disapproving heads. “I’m sorry I couldn’t contain myself. I’ll leave you guys alone. I think they have more cocktails somewhere.”

Before either of them could say anything, he had disappeared. Dawn turned sheepishly to Liam, “are you?” Liam’s face was skewered in a confused frown, and she had to admit he was kind of adorable, reminded her vaguely of a puppy. She tried to explain everything to him, about her countdown and seeing him and the itch that happened when she remembered him. She watched as his expression changed, and Liam then slowly lifted his long sleeve and looked at his wrist, head snapping up to look at her.

“Holy shit! It’s you!”

Something snapped inside of Dawn, and she cried in relief while rushing to hug him. She wasn’t broken, she had a soulmate! Liam held onto her for dear life, and she to him. He smelled like vanilla, her favorite lotion was vanilla scented.

~~~

Dawn cared about him, a lot. But it wasn’t as smooth sailing as she thought it’d be at first. The feelings weren’t as intense as Zayn’s were for Alanna. When he had first met her he hated being apart, and he kept telling Dawn about these crazy similarities in their lives and these intense feelings that made him want to punch a wall or do cartwheels. Dawn didn’t feel any of that. She knew, from her research, that not everyone had intense feelings when they first met their soulmate. It’s very rare, but sometimes there’s awkwardness and a lot of avoiding each other. Sometimes the feelings come slowly, in slow bursts. That’s what kept her going, the slow bursts. Because butterflies always seemed to spread from her stomach to her toes when Liam bought her gifts or called to wish her goodnight. And she always felt a little light headed when they kissed. She liked him, but it was slower than she would have liked.

He gave her all the space she needed, that was one thing she loved about him. Liam understood that her feelings weren’t as intense as his and he wasn’t hurt by it. Usually, soulmates move in together right away, because when they meet it means they’re ready. But Liam didn’t push her to do that. Sometimes he spent the night with her, when she asked, and during those nights he cuddled her and cooked for her and tended to her in ways that made her toes curl. She liked having him over for nights, but then she’d always wake up with a nasty feeling in her stomach if they did something remotely sexual during the previous night. She felt like she’d betrayed herself, or cheated on someone. They hadn’t even actually had sex yet and she was already feeling terrible. So she always asked him to leave, and he did. Then she’d shower and go to work, Dawn always felt better at work.

When she wasn’t in her office doing research and writing, she was either doing her job as a teaching assistant or going over her work with Dr. Styles. Dr. Styles was her favorite part of the week. They met twice a week to discuss her work, and he was always excited and amazed at everything she did. He’d read her work and shower her with compliments that made her warm. And he’d listen as she spoke with his eyes glued to hers, a soft smile playing on his lips. “I love how passionate you are,” he had said once, “your eyes almost literally light up and your energy captures everyone in the room. It’s inspiring, really.” His words made dawn feel dizzy, she felt her heart beat faster and her face turn red, and that feeling was followed by guilt as Liam’s face floated into her mind. She should be feeling this for Liam, not her advisor.

Dr. Styles must have sensed that it made her uncomfortable, “I’m sorry,” he shook his head, confusion etched on his features, “I don’t know why I said that.”

That conversation was weeks ago, since then her and Dr. Styles had developed a friendship. They no longer just talked about their work but also their favorite books and TV shows. Dawn guiltily told him she sometimes watches kids TV shows and he nearly fell off his chair with laughter. Then, to comfort her, he told her about his love for children’s books, and how he tells people they’re for his nephew but really they’re all his. She knew small insignificant things about him that he admitted no one else knew, and it was the same for her.

She knew that he developed emotional connections to some of his shoes, and wore them until they fell apart, then he’d get sad when he had to throw them out.

He knew that she named her cat Tika after the elephant from Barbie and the Island Princess

She knew that the nighttime made him anxious and he didn’t like to spend it alone, although he did a lot.

He knew that she got angry when she watched sad movies instead of crying.

She knew he started studying soulmates so he could understand his own better someday, and she knew it was hard for him to talk about so she never pushed.

They were friends. He knew her in ways that Zayn didn’t, in ways she didn’t want Liam to know her. And it scared her a little. Is it possible to fall for someone else when you’re already with your soulmate?

~~~

“Sloths! Of course it’s sloths. End of discussion!”

Liam snorted, “wrong, the cutest animal on the planet is a baby chimpanzee.”

“I don’t know where you’re getting your information but it’s wrong.”

He rolled his eyes, reaching over his empty plate for one of her french fries, “I could say the same for you.”

Dawn whacked his hand away, but he caught hers in his before she could pull away and left a light kiss on it. It had been a little over three months since she met Liam, and she could now confidently say she was absolutely smitten with him. She didn’t know when exactly it clicked for her, maybe it was when they were talking during a movie and he said, “sometimes I’m convinced I have an extra finger on my right hand. I know I do!” and it was so out of the blue that she soda spewed out of her nose because she was laughing so hard. Or maybe it was when Zayn got food poisoning and Alanna called Dawn in a panic, then Dawn called Liam and he somehow got to Zayn before she did, and took him to the emergency room. She found him comforting Alanna when she rushed in, and he assured her that everything was alright.

The food poisoning night was when she told him she loved him. It was when she threw all her anxieties out of the window and let him in because Liam was so good. And he made her feel amazing so of course, he was her soulmate.

“So,” Liam said, giving her back her hand and snatching a hand full of french fries, “I have a gift for you.”

Dawn raised her eyebrows at him, he was always showering her with gifts. And she knew by now that rejecting them was hopeless, “oh yeah?”

Liam dug into his coat pocket and pulled out a black velvet box the size of Dawn’s palm. Her breath hitched in a panic and Liam laughed, “don’t worry, I’m not proposing. I know you’re not ready for that.”

She hummed gratefully, pushing away the feeling of unease in her gut as she took the box from him and opened it. It was a necklace chain, and right in the middle of the box, attached to the chain, was a key. “Think it’s time we moved in together, yeah?”

Her nerves seemed to freeze, her brain refusing to work. Liam sat across from her, his smile slowly fading into confusion and then hurt. He sat back, his lips forming an ‘oh,’ and he suddenly found the grease stains on the table incredibly interesting. “I...I’m not saying no,” she croaked, although it still felt weird, “can you give me a few days?”

He shrugged, “I thought we were moving forward is all, I’m sorry if it made you feel uncomfortable.”

Guilt gnawed at her chest, “just a few days, I’m the one who’s sorry.”

Liam sighed, then nodded. “Ok, whatever you need.”

“I love you.” She said, and she meant it.

He smiled, “I love you, too.”

~~~

Alanna’s face lit up when she opened the door, “hi! come in! Zayn! Dawn is here!” she shooed Dawn in and went into the kitchen, opening the fridge and pulling out the pomegranate juice they always kept around specifically for her. Alanna was amazing, she and Zayn were total opposites, kind of like Dawn and Liam. Where Zayn was quiet and mellow, only getting loud when he had a few drinks in him, Alanna was talkative and energetic. She was always doing something. If she wasn’t working at the shelter she was volunteering or working out or helping Zayn with his art. There were days when Zayn and Dawn would lounge in his apartment and watch movies and she’d bustle in and out, doing a million things while they barely did one.

“I feel like it’s been forever since I saw you! I keep telling Zayn that the three of us should hang out more together but you know how he is at making plans. How’s Liam?” she handed Dawn a glass of juice and waited patiently as she drank the whole thing.

“I’m actually here about Liam.”

Zayn ambled out of their bedroom, zipping up his jeans and throwing a jacket over his shoulder. “Hey Dawn, you alright?” while Alanna was clueless to Dawn’s sour mood, Zayn picked up on it the second he saw me. “What is it?”

But she saw that he had a nice jacket on his shoulder and Alanna was wearing those fancy heels, and knew she couldn’t ruin their date. They’d both stay here if he even suggested she might want them too and throw their whole night away. But ruining one pairs day was enough for Dawn, so she waved it off. “Nothing, I just came to pick up some books I left here.” She got up and picked up a stack of books she left there from the yesterday before hugging them both goodbye and humming as she walked towards the door so as to seem casual. From the quizzical look Zayn was giving her, she knew he didn’t buy it, but he wasn’t going to push, so he waved goodbye as she shut the door.

~~~

Dawn didn’t know what she was doing, she felt dumb and pathetic and her arms hurt from carrying all those books all the way to campus. And now she stood in front of Harry’s office, staring at the closed door and wondering how she got here. She was just deciding to turn and run before he sees her when she heard his voice, “Dawn? Did we have a meeting?”

She shook her head, refusing to face him because for some reason there were tears pooling in the corners of her eyes, “no, I was around, just thought I’d drop by and say hello.”

Her feet had finally started carrying her away when she felt a gentle grip on her shoulder, “you’re crying.”

Then she couldn’t hold it in anymore, Daw let a sob rack through her body as she continued to fade away from Harry, “sorry, I don’t know why I came here I just couldn’t go home and I didn’t want to ruin Zayn’s day because I seem to be ruining all the men in my life’s days and now I’m here ruining yours I’m so—”

Harry shushed her, “stop that. Come in, let’s talk.”

Dawn rushed to decline his offer, “no you’re probably busy I don’t want to—”

“I don’t care,” he interrupted again, “I don’t care how busy I am. Let me take care of you.” He tugged on her sleeve, taking the books from her hands then fixing his in between her fingers. Dawn tried to ignore how her breath hitched and she instinctively squeezed his hand. He pushed his office door open and lead her in. Dawn reluctantly let go of his hand and walked towards the couch at the far end while Harry started to make some tea. “This should calm you down, it’s not as great as tea made properly with a kettle, but that’s a fire hazard and they told me to stop bringing portable stoves into my office so this electric one will have to do.” Dawn cracked a smile at that, and Harry chuckled, “that wasn’t a joke, but I’m glad it cheered you up. Now, what’s wrong poppet?”

Dawn’s heart squeezed at the new pet name, it made her feel warm and comforted, but it also hurt her, making her unexplainably sadder. “Is it…” she huffed, closing her eyes and taking a sip of her tea as she scorned herself for asking this question, “is it possible to end up with the wrong soulmate?”

Harry cocked his head, “what do you mean?”

She huffed, knowing it was too late to go back now because she knew Harry and he wouldn’t drop this. “I mean our countdowns went down at the same time, and I love him,” she ignored how his jaw tightened when she said that, “but I don’t have those intense feelings or that feeling of completeness with him. If anything I feel like something’s missing.”

Harry nodded, “there are cases where two pairs would meet at the same time, and then get their partners confused. But they always find their way back, because if you’re with the wrong person after your timer has stopped, your body starts to reject them. Even if your mind doesn’t, those people may think they love their partner but they always get sick until they find their true soulmate.”

Dawn sighed, a little upset and a little relieved because her body wasn’t doing that. She wasn’t rejecting Liam, and she did love him. She would die for him. So he had to be the one. “What if, it is the right person but you still have those doubts?”

Harry played with his lip, something he did when he was deep in thought, Dawn loved that habit, she’d even started to pick up on it herself. “Soulmate is an imperfect science, you know that, because everyone is so different. No two minds and bodies are the same or react the same. Again, there have been cases, although very rare, where it took the couple a longer time than usual to get into the swing of things.”

“But we are in the swing of things!” Dawn couldn’t help her voice cracking in frustration, “and he doesn’t feel any of this. He’s fine! It’s just me.”

Harry places a comforting hand on her knee, and again, Dawn tried to ignore how her mood immediately lifted but her heart hurt even more. “Do you think that could just be you being in disbelief? You said you had started to think you didn’t have a soulmate. So maybe you’re just doubting it because you can’t believe you do?”

“Maybe,” she nodded, although her heart tugged at that. “What do I do in that case?”

Her advisor shrugged, “fake it ‘til you make it. You said you love him, and that you're certain he’s your soulmate. All those doubts will go away if you stop mulling over them.”

Dawn exhaled, “you’re right. You’re right! I just need to stop running away every time I voice in my head whispers for me too. Thank you, Harry.”

“Anytime love, you can always come to me.”

Dawn doesn’t know what pushed her to say what she said next, but once she said it surprised her more than it did him. “What’s your deal? With your soulmate.”

Harry’s eyes widened, he always shifted the conversation when she tried to get information about his soulmate. Now it’s been months and she still didn’t know. He was studying her, playing at his lips again, before finally saying, “I don’t have one.”

Dawn’s heart broke for him, because he looked so defeated after that confession, playing with the fabric of his pants and refusing to meet her eyes. “What about your countdown?”

He showed it to her, 00:00. “It’s been like that for as long as I can remember. I don’t know why. An expert once said that maybe they died when we were young. But if they did I’d feel it, and I don’t. So I just don’t get a person like everyone else does.”

She shifted closer to him, not knowing why tears sprung at her eyes from his confession. All she knew was that someone with as much love in his heart as Harry deserved to be loved, and the world was cruel and unfair for not giving him that. “Harry, I’m—” but he shook his head, silently asking her not to apologize. He never liked pity, but it was so hard not to feel sad for him when he looked so broken. Dawn ran her fingers through his hair, he once told her that always comforted him, and her heart seemed to sour when his eyes fluttered closed and he leaned into her touch.

He was so beautiful, in every possible way. Harry was kind and generous and passionate and loved everyone. He also had the most mesmerizing eyes and the perfect curve of his nose. He had a voice that calmed Dawn’s biggest worries, and a dimpled smile that made her want to coo every time she was granted one. Harry also has unbelievably pink lips, lips she always found herself staring at. Ones he liked to play with and cones that drew out every word he chose with care and precision. She knew his lips were soft, she knew it like she knew her name. And she wanted so badly to feel them.

His eyes were still closed, a comforted hum slipping out of his lips as Dawn massages at his hair. That sound was enough to make her lean closer and brush her lips against his.

Harry’s eyes shot open and he straightened up so quickly that Dawn's hand fell limp onto his led.  Neither of them said anything, Dawn didn’t know what he was thinking. As she waited for him to say something, a fire seemed to grow inside her, getting hotter and hotter until she felt like she was going to melt. The brush wasn’t enough, she wanted more, needed more and she was certain she’d suffocate if she didn’t get it.

Dawn didn’t get a chance to think of what to do because Harry leaned in, his lips crashing with hers so quickly it knocked the wind out of both of them. He kissed her hungrily, with a monstrous passion as if his whole life was building up to that moment. And Dawn kissed back, she pulled at his hair as he sucked on her lower lip and pushed him closer to herself, so close that she could almost feel his heartbeat through his lips.

He sucked at her lips and she bit at his, his tongue danced around hers and she let out sounds she’d never heard before. His hands held onto her face, directing her where he wants her to be and Dawn was certain she’d have a mark on her face for days because his touch was so hot. Liam would definitely—

She pulled away with a gasp, and Harry tried to lean in again but she shook her head, “this was wrong,” she said, almost trying to convince herself, because she felt no remorse, and wanted more than anything to continue to kiss him. She finally looked at Harry, who’s swollen red lips were now pointing down in a pout, “I have a so— I have Liam. I’m sorry.”

Harry seemed to want to argue with her, and she wished he would. She wanted him to give her a reason to stay with him all night. Instead, he coughed and said, “right. Liam.” Dawn waited for a little bit more before forcing herself to walk out of his office, out of his building, without turning back. If she turned back she’d go all the way back, and say screw Liam. Screw soulmates and kiss me.

The guilt started to seep in when she was a few minutes away from her apartment. It was a nasty feeling, she was used to feeling guilty but it didn’t hurt her stomach the way this did. It didn’t make her hands shake until she dropped her phone, and it didn’t make her lose her bearings until she was crying in the middle of the street. This is what happens when you cheat on your soulmate, she thought, I’m going to die. It hurts so much it’s going to kill me.

She didn’t want to go back to her apartment and be alone, so she kept walking until she was at the one place that never filled her with confusion and turmoil. Zayn opened the door this time, and only saw her face for a second before pulling her into a hug, “oh, button.” Dawn blubbered, in the middle of sobs and sighs, her apology about ruining their night. “Nonsense, love. We just got back and Anna’s tired anyway. Come on, let’s clean you up.”

Alanna and Zayn forced her into the shower, and now she had on a pair of Alanna’s softest pajamas and socks. She was laying on the couch, covered with a blanket and her head in Zayn’s lap as she recounted the events of the day. From Liam asking her to move into kissing Harry, and Zayn listened quietly through the whole thing, humming at the right parts and playing with her hair to keep her calm. Her body still aches, especially as she explained how guilty she felt. Zayn squeezes her arm when she told him it felt like dying, and he peppered her hand with soft kisses and comforted her with kind words when her body started to ache again. Dawn wondered then if Zayn was her soulmate, not in the way he was Alanna’s, but as her friend. She sometimes felt like he was her other half, like him and her were made from the same fabric and sent down to watch over each other, even though most of the time it was him protecting her.

“You know what you need to do, button.” He said softly, massaging circles into her scalp, “it’s the only way to make yourself feel better.”

“But what about him? It’ll break Liam, I know it.”

“He’s stronger than you think. And he loves you so much.”

Dawn groaned, covering her face with her hands, “I’m the worst soulmate ever. Why did he have to get stuck with me?”

“No, you’re not. No more of that, okay? You’ll stay with us for a couple of days until you feel better, I’ll tell Liam you’re sick and I’m taking care of you. Then you can tell him, he’ll understand. Soulmates always do.”

“Soulmates don’t cheat.”

“Yeah well, your story was never like everyone else’s was it?”

~~~

Soulmates always understand.

Liam understood. Of course not at first, at first. At first, there was yelling and crying and Dawn feeling so sick she had to run to the bathroom before she emptied her stomach on his carpet. But then he took care of her, he helped her clean up and made her some lemonade. Liam sat down across from her, his head in his hands for what seemed like an eternity before finally speaking up, “what are you going to do?” Dawn didn’t understand, “do you want to fix this?”

“Yes! Of course I do Liam I’m so sorry! Please let me fix it, it’s killing me.”

“What are you going to do to fix it?”

She fixed it, she did. Dawn emailed Harry the next day and requested a new advisor. She didn’t see him or think about him again. For a very long time, the guilt still ate at her. She was sick and fatigued and irritable, “a proper monster,” is how Zayn described it. But Liam was patient and tended to her all throughout that. And the more time that passed between her and Harry, the better she felt. Yes, every now and then she’d get sick again. And sometimes she couldn’t bear being near Liam or the guilt would eat her up. But that was better than before, things got better.

Harry did give her good advice. She faked it until all the bad feelings about Liam were gone, and she only got them when she thought about Harry. It worked. And a year later, when Liam proposed, she was able to say yes without a second’s hesitation. They were soulmates after all.

Everything was wonderful. They were engaged and living together, Liam’s photography was getting more recognition, and Dawn was almost done with her thesis. Her new advisor was kind, strict, but kind, and she respected her. It was almost Christmas time, and nothing could go wrong.

Liam and Dawn were gift shopping, walking hand in hand through a pet store as Dawn looked for a cute Christmas outfit for Tika. She had met Liam at the mall after a meeting with her advisor. Harry had walked in during that meeting, not knowing that Dawn was there. And when she saw him she felt her hands start to shake again. Her mouth was dry and her heart felt like it was going to jump out of her chest, so she excused herself and came back when he left. Other than that, the meeting went great, and Dawn was telling Liam about all of her research and the possibility of it getting published when someone approached them.

“Liam? Liam is that you?”

Liam froze, squeezing Dawn’s hand once before turning to face the voice. Dawn saw it was a woman, maybe a few years older than the two of them. She had a short blond bob cut and big blue eyes, and she her face was one of wonder when she saw Liam, but then her eyes turned to Dawn and were confused. And when they saw their interlocked hands they got angry, was she an ex? Sometimes people dated others before they found their soulmate, it was rare, but it happened. But usually, there are no hard feelings when the soulmates are found.  “Daisy,” Liam forced a smile, “it’s been a while.”

Something felt off, Liam was being so cold, and he was such a sweet person. Daisy cocked her hip and crossed her arms, “yeah no shit, you told us you were leaving town to deal with everything. Yet here you are.”

Dawn wanted to ask what was going on, but the tension between her fiancé and Daisy made her keep quiet. “I was out of town.”

“Yeah?” she cocked her eyebrow, “and who’s this missy?”

Dawn responded before Liam could do it for her, “I’m his fiance, his soulmate. Who are you?”

Daisy gasped, then threw her head back and laughed. When she stopped, she looked from me to Liam, “his soulmate? Well I know that’s not the truth.”

Dawn’s mind was reeling as she tried to keep up with everything, “I’m sorry?” she asked, confused.

“His soulmate’s dead baby girl,” Daisy rolled her eyes, “I should know, I’m her sister.”

Dawn froze, not being able to comprehend what was going on. The girl didn’t seem to be lying, and Liam was frozen as well, unable to say anything. Was it true then? He already had his soulmate? There’s no way, because that would mean Dawn wasn’t his soulmate, and that would mean he’s been lying to her. “Liam?” was all she could force out.

Liam threw daisy a dirty look and pushed Dawn away gently, “ok listen to me, she’s right. I had a soulmate before you. Her name was Sophia, and she passed away. But you’re my soulmate too! You’re my second one.”

Second soulmates were rare, but they happened. When someone loses their soulmate, their clock resets again, and they find another. “But that’s like... everyone in a million,” Dawn choked out, starting to calm down, “and why wouldn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t want it to bother you, babe,” he comforted, “you’re my one in a million.”

Daisy wasn’t done yet though, “another lie!” she cackled, “oh my God Liam, I can’t believe you. You’ve always been a snake.”

“What?” Dawn questioned, “what is it now? Why can’t you just leave us alone?”

“I’m trying to help you, baby, his clock never reset after Sophia. He doesn’t have a second soulmate.”

Liam growled, “she’s lying, Dawn.”

That seemed to push Daisy off the edge, “lying? I’m not a liar! I have proof.” She opened her phone and after a few long seconds, turned it to me, “this was before the funeral. We were all standing outside and my mom snapped a picture, remember that? Then she wanted to process it and put it with Sophia so she could have us all with her but she didn’t have time? Remember when we were all there together grieving for your dead wife?”

Liam made a sound at the back of his throat, no doubt saddened by the mention of his late soulmate. But Dawn paid that no mind, because she zoomed into the picture, where Liam was fixing one of his sleeves, and his wrist was turned towards the camera.

00:00

It felt as if the air was taken out of her, like she’d been hit in the head and forgot how to breathe. She looked at Liam, who was frozen, guilty. She spent her whole life looking for him, only to find out after two years of them being together, that he wasn’t him. Everything she felt, or didn’t feel, it was all valid and she was made to be the bad person in the relationship because of it, while he knew the whole time, that she didn’t feel everything because he wasn’t hers.

Liam reached for her, but she dodged him, not wanting to touch him ever again. All she could do was force out a “don’t follow me.” Before turning and walking away.

She wound up in the apartment they shared, surrounded by pictures of them and the things they owned together. Tika pawed at her foot, wearing a collar Liam bought her. Dawn knelt down and took the collar off, tossing it across the room and it hit the front door, which swung open right after to reveal Liam. “Dawn,” he breathed, “please listen to me.”

“Get out.”

Liam stepped into the apartment, shutting the door behind him, “Baby, please we can get through this.”

“So it’s true?” she asked, part of her hoping he’d say no.

“Yes but that doesn’t matter! I love you, and you love me. This whole soulmate thing is shit anyway.”

Dawn scoffed, finally getting angry, “the past two years have been a lie! Everything about us is built on your pathetic lie! You’re shit, you are. You’re a liar and a psychopath and I want you out.”

Liam’s face twisted, “oi, this isn’t on me! You’re the one that walked up to me and told me you were my soulmate!”

“And you didn’t think to deny it? Instead, you had me believing that I was your soulmate! And that I was a shit soulmate at that because I didn’t love you at first, and I didn’t trust you. My whole being was telling me something was wrong about this, but every wrong feeling I got just made me feel worse, and you let that happen.”

He stepped closer, his arms extended towards her, but Dawn stepped back. Tika looked from her owner to the man she’s grown used to, sensing the negative energy and decided to go hide in a room. “But we got through all of that, right?” Liam continued, “every time you had a doubt or started pulling away I was understanding! I took care of you and loved you even when you treated me like shit and ignored me all the time. I was patient with you. I was patient with you when you wouldn’t sleep with me for a month and I was there even when you cheated on me! You’ve hurt me time and time again and I always forgave you. Now it’s your turn.”

Dawn was disgusted, she wanted to throw up. The thought that she fell in love with him, slept with him, has lived with him and was going to marry him without knowing all of this. “I didn’t lie to you about being your soulmate! I thought you were mine and I tried so hard to love you! I did love you!”

“You’re crazy! What were you going to do when we got married huh? When we couldn’t have kids because you’re not my soulmate? Tell me it was my fault?”

“Dawn please.”

“Get out! I don’t want to see you again.”

Liam clenched his jaw, “this is my apartment love, if you’re going to refuse to talk to me then you get out.”

Her blood was boiling, and if she didn’t get away from him she’d either hurt him or hurt herself. “Fine, I’ll fucking leave. Can’t stand this stupid place anyway.” Dawn stormed to the room they shared and started shoving her belongings into a stray backpack. “I’ll send Zayn for my stuff, don’t talk to him, and that’ll be it.”

Liam then started to grow desperate, “no, I’m sorry Dawn don’t go. Please, Dawn, we can work this out. I love you. I’m sorry I lied please just stay I can’t lose you.”

“I’m just your fucking replacement, Liam.”

“But I fell in love with you. We can fix this, I can fix this and we can still get married.” He blocked the door, “please, Dawn. You probably don’t have a soulmate anyway, this is better for both of us.”

That was it for her, she swung her backpack onto her back and shoved him out of the way, “anything is better than being with you. You stay the fuck away from me.”

She forced off her engagement ring and threw it at him, “Dawn!”

Dawn picked up Tika and grabbed her purse. “If you bother me or my friends, I’ll tell the police you faked being my soulmate. And you’ll go to prison. Stay. Away.”

Liam finally gave a defeated sigh, “fine, ok. Just don’t turn me in, please.”

“You’re pathetic.”

~~~

When she told Zayn what happened, he was livid. If it wasn’t for Alanna yelling at him to stay put, he would have gone and done who knows what to Liam. Zayn was gentle, but he had a temper and it was scary when he got mad. Instead of taking it out on Liam, he put all his energy into caring for Dawn. He and Alanna set up the guest bedroom for her, “you’ll literally live with us until our grandkids kick you out. Shut up about being a bother it’s really annoying.”

Zayn didn’t trust that Liam would stay away, and he insisted on driving Dawn to and from work. In order to try and forget everything, Dawn threw herself into her work. She increased her office hours and helped more of her students, and spent all her days in the office, working on her research or studying for her classes. The deadline was approaching fast, and she had allowed herself to get distracted with all the wedding planning, but now she was back on track, she’d get her masters on time.

Dawn was typing away at her laptop, so lost in her work that she didn’t notice a figure at her door until he knocked on the wall. Harry stood at her office door, looking nervous and holding a wrapped present in his hands, “Hello, can I come in?”

There was no longer a reason for her to say no. Harry sat on a chair, “I just wanted to congratulate you on your thesis almost being done. I’m a little upset I couldn’t read it but I will when it’s published. I got you something to celebrate.”

He handed her the present and Dawn opened it to find two CDs. A Dragon Tales, seasons 1-5 and CD featuring three Barbie movies. She laughed, her eyes springing tears because he remembered such small insignificant things about her. “These are wonderful,” she breathed, “thank you so much.”

Harry beamed, his dimples pinching in and giving her a feeling she hadn’t felt in a long time, one she only felt around him. “Your welcome. Maybe I’ll get you Teletubbies as a wedding gift.” Her smile faded and she didn’t respond. “How is Liam,” Harry pushed, clueless to everything that happened.

“Harry,” Dawn sighed, “thank you for the gifts, but I really don’t want to talk about him right now. And I have a lot of work to do.”

His smile dropped and he looked like she wounded him, “right. Sorry, I overstepped once again.”

As he was walking out, Dawn spoke up, “I’m sorry, Harry.” He turned around, “I didn’t mean to snap like that. You never overstepped, it was always me. You shouldn’t feel bad about anything.”

He gave her a small nod, “I don’t think you overstepped either. With me.” Dawn didn’t know what to say, so she just gave him a forced smile and looked back at her computer. “I miss you.”

Her head snapped up, her blood feeling like electricity at those three words. But Harry left before she could say anything.

~~~

She couldn’t sleep, every time she closed her eyes she saw Liam, and it made her afraid to sleep. She also had a pounding headache. It was three in the morning, and she couldn’t stop thinking about everything. Her countdown had turned to zero, which means someone else’s must have too, right? Her real soulmate was out there somewhere. She wished she could remember the party clearer, but it was too long ago.

There was also a possibility that she didn’t have a soulmate. Her countdown had been glitchy and maybe that was just it finally breaking down. Maybe she still was broken.

She had to do something, so she got out of bed and went to get a glass of water. Once she returned to her room, Dawn started rummaging through her unopened boxes, looking for something to make her feel better.

“Dawn?” Zayn’s sleep filled voice yawned and he flicked on the lights, “what are you doing up?”

“Did I wake you?” she said guiltily, “Sorry.”

He shook his head, squinting at her as he tried to keep his eyes open, “was going to get a drink and heard you. Can’t sleep?”

“I’m looking for something.”

“What?”

Dawn sat back on the bed and Zayn joined her, she closed her eyes and rubbed her temples, feeling dizzy. “The picture.” Zayn hummed for her to go on, “the one Liam took from the party, I don’t want it around anymore. I have to get rid of it. God!”

“What?” Zayn asked, concerned this time, because Dawn had knelt over, gripping her head. “Dawn what’s wrong?”

“Dizzy,” she croaked, “my head hurts. My whole body hurts.”

Her best friend stood up, “ok lay down, I’ll go get you some medicine.”

“No, I need that picture.”

“Dawn that’s not important right now.”

“Yes it is!” she yelled. She didn’t know why she needed the picture so badly, but she just did.

“Okay, okay. Lay down and I’ll find it for you.”

She must have dozed off, because the next thing she remembered is Zayn waking her up, the picture in his hand. Dawn sat up and took it from him, studying it. Harry was giving her his book, his dimpled smile present as he looked at her. Dawn was enamored by the book, probably focused on not dropping it. The picture made her sick, “this is what started everything,” she hissed, going to tear the picture.

“No, no! Dawn wait!” Zayn practically tackled her for the picture, taking it out of her hands before she could tear it in half. She glared at him, hoping he had a good reason for doing that, “look.” He said, pointing to the book. But Dawn didn’t see anything, she cursed Zayn for being too sentimental and went to take the picture back. “No stop it! Look!” This time he pointed at her wrist, where the numbers were grayed and rapidly approaching zero. Her breath hitched, Liam had captured the moment her countdown went to zero. But that wasn’t what Zayn was referring too, because after he made sure that Dawn saw her countdown, he moved his finger and placed it just above Harry’s wrist.

~~~

This was stupid, this was so stupid. But Dawn could barely think straight over her heart beating so fast. She had taken Zayn’s car as soon as she noticed what he was pointing too, the picture was crushed between her hand and the steering wheel. She didn’t know if he’d be at his office at three in the morning, who’s at their office at three in the morning? But she had to go.

Dawn practically ran to the building, the door was open. That was a good sign, nevermind the fact that it could be any of the hundreds of people that worked in this building. She rushed up the stairs and down the hall, stopping short in front of his office. Her hands were shaking so hard she almost dropped the picture multiple times, so she shoved it into her pocket before putting a shaky hand to the door and pushing it open.

Harry was laying on the couch, a mug of black coffee sat on the floor beside him and he was reading a paper, a red pen settled behind his ear. His legs kept warm by sot grey sweatpants and instead of a dress shirt, he wore an old Rolling Stones T-shirt. He turned when he heard the door open, startled, then confused when he saw who it was. “Dawn?” he sat up, taking in her pink pajamas, the bun of hair toppled on her head, and the star wars slippers that belonged to Zayn, “are you alright?”

“When did your countdown go to zero?” she was panting.

“What?” Harry tilted his head, “Dawn what are y–”

“Tell me! Please,” she calmed down, “when did your countdown go to zero.”

“I already told you, love,” his eyebrows knitted in concern, “are you drunk?”

“You lied.”

His eyes widened, “excuse me?”

“You lied! Tell me the truth, please, Harry.”

Something in her voice unwound him, and he leaned back onto the couch before saying, “at the book release.”

“Why didn’t you notice it?”

“Dawn what’s going on?”

“If you knew that your time was approaching, why didn’t you notice it and know who your soulmate was?” Harry’s jaw twitched, he was embarrassed of the answer, and she knew why. “Because you didn’t expect it to ever get to zero, right? Because it was glitching for months before that and you had given up, so you didn’t notice it was at zero until way after.”

He stood up, eyes wide, “until after the party, when it was too late. How do you…” his jaw dropped when the realization hit him. Harry looked at his wrist, then back at her, then at his wrist again. He went to sit down, putting his head in his hands and exhaling through his nose. “What about Liam?”

“He lied to me.”

Harry fell silent, he laid back on the couch, then sat up straight. Dawn watched him repeat the motion over and over, then stand up and pace the length of his office. He was in shock, she understood that. Harry had thought he lost his soulmate forever and now here she was, in oversized pink pajamas, wide-eyed and panting like an animal. She looked away, trying to give him some privacy. “What are you doing?” Harry spoke, she turned around to answer, but was stricken silent by his dimpled smile, “come over here so I can kiss you.”

She practically jumped on him, and Harry laughed as he stumbled from her weight to the couch. Dawn tried to take in all of his features, to look at him and take in two years worth of him. Everything made sense then, why she was always drawn to him, why she felt guilty when she was with Liam. Why she kissed him, and didn’t feel guilty about that. Even why she started getting sick after they kissed. Her heart knew, it always knew that Harry was her person, it just took two years and a Zayn for her to catch up.

Harry’s lips captured hers, and he hummed happily as she kissed him back. Dawn could swear she heard their souls clicking together. She knotted her fingers with his hair, and Harry pulled her closer until all that's separating them was the clothes on their bodies. Between his kisses and their happy giggles, Dawn felt like she could finally breathe. His tongue on hers was fresh air, his lips on her cheeks and neck and mouth were fresh air, she felt like her soul could have floated all the way to heaven if it staying here and kissing Harry wasn’t more enticing.

[ezatluba]

Pandemic Pet Therapy: What's So Special About A Critter Friend?

November 22, 2020

Karen McCullough never wanted a dog. "It would have tied me down, and I had a great, very busy life," she says.

Her career as a keynote speaker at conferences has taken her across the U.S., Canada and Mexico. "My job is to get everybody engaged, excited and ready to network," she says.

McCullough loved the travel — "cool hotels and not worrying about having anything at home," she says. "I don't even have any live plants in the house." As she sailed into 2020, she expected her best year yet.

Then "BOOM" — everything stopped, including conventions and conferences. The pandemic "took my life away," she says.

Karen McCullough found a way to alleviate the loneliness that was starting to sink in. "Rosie has been like this magnet; she's attracting me to people and it's good."

Karen McCullough

Living alone in Houston, she started feeling the stress — anxious and worried about money. On top of that, she couldn't see her three grandkids who live nearby. "I'm such an extrovert and it's just been crazy and hard."

The surprising solution, for McCullough and many other Americans in 2020, was often furry, with four feet: a pet dog or cat.

First, her son and his wife adopted a puppy. McCullough decided to do the same, quietly hoping that if she got a puppy, the grandkids "would want to come and visit me in the front yard." On Labor Day, 8-week-old Rosie, a Wheaten terrier, arrived.

Rosie opened a new world to McCullough — within just a few blocks. Strangers became new friends. "I know all my neighbors now," she says. "We have a routine and she gets me out there; we walk three times a day!"

The loneliness that had started to sink McCullough as the pandemic wore on is gone. "Rosie has been like this magnet; she's attracting me to people and it's good."

And there's some science to back up McCullough's feelings. Research from Australia finds the "pet factor" does bring people together in helpful ways: Pet owners are more likely to get to know people, form friendships and get the social support humans need.

Psychologist Lori Kogan, a professor of veterinary medicine at Colorado State University and chair of the Human-Animal Interaction Section of the American Psychological Association, has been cataloging stories like McCullough's during the pandemic.

Kogan and colleagues from Washington State University, University of San Francisco and Palo Alto University did two anonymous online surveys via social media to current pet owners — one regarding cats and another asking about dogs. The surveys asked participants to share their thoughts, experiences and concerns amid the pandemic.

They found a significant number of people reported feeling they have less social support from friends and family now than before COVID-19 spread across the U.S. For many, their pets have played a critical role in helping reduce feelings of depression, anxiety, isolation and loneliness in these tough months.

Pets, Kogan says, are "a respite from the difficulties of life" and provide their human companions "an outlet to give." And while relationships with friends and family can be fraught, she says, "relationships with animals are simple."

Here are more stories of pet owners discovering animal companions can be the unsung therapists of these difficult times:

Get up and get moving: Dr. Gregory Brown and Kai

Dr. Gregory Brown is a psychiatrist in Austin, Texas, and a spokesperson for the American Psychiatric Association. Brown says he has been seeing an increase in anxiety, insomnia and depression among patients he has counseled in the past six months. "People are definitely dealing with economic stressors, a hard time with money, and with just being idle" — not getting out of the house much.

A dog "nudging at your foot or barking because they want to go for a walk" can be a real motivation every day to get out and get moving, he says. And that's good emotionally as well as physically. "We know physical activity can help reducedepression."

Kai has kept Dr. Gregory Brown out and about with a 6:30 a.m. wake-up call ... "when she's not busy eating up my wife's favorite pair of shoes."

Gregory Brown

Though Brown says he's a fairly active guy, he found the reduced structure of these pandemic days meant he was getting to bed a bit later, getting up a bit later and sometimes letting his exercise schedule slide.

Then, about a month ago, he and his wife decided to adopt a 10-month old golden retriever/lab mix named Kai. Now, every day starts with her wake-up bark around 6:30 a.m., returning some sense of structure to their lives.

And Brown says that he spends at least some time outside daily, jogging and walking and that helps make the days seem "a bit more normal."

"She's just been a joy to be around when she's not busy eating up my wife's favorite pair of shoes," he says.

Breaking through the isolation: Karol Kullberg and Molly

As a psychiatric social worker in Rockville, Md., Karol Kullberg has spent most of her work life in a small room, listening to patients face to face — work she finds rewarding and fulfilling, she says. When the pandemic hit, she was able to work from home — a blessing in some ways, but not others. Offering therapy online, via telehealth appointments, has been convenient, Kulberg says, but she also finds it isolating and somewhat alienating.

"It's intensely stressful — I think for everyone," she says. "Certainly for patients as well as therapists, who weren't particularly technologically adept or even comfortable using Zoom or other platforms."

Reading patients' facial expressions and body language can be more difficult she says, and without colleagues to talk to in between therapeutic sessions, "you're very aware that you are suddenly working in a vacuum." Kullberg doesn't say she's lonely. She says it's more like being "profoundly alone."

By the end of March when it became clear that staying at home would be the norm for quite a while, she decided to adopt a dog.

Enter Molly, a 5-year-old terrier mix who "came right into my home, was perfectly well-behaved, perfectly housebroken, and even welcomed my cat — who didn't return the favor."

For Kullberg, Molly was "like getting something you didn't know you missed; you forgot how wonderful it was to have something you didn't notice until all of a sudden it's there again."

She finds Molly an extremely comforting presence, "like having somebody's arm around your shoulder without having to say anything. Sort of like a dance partner you don't have to teach; they just figure it out."

Today, Kullberg says she no longer feels alone. "I get up in the morning and Molly curls up in her bed and we go to work."

A source of joy amid grief: Peggy Pacy & Emmet

"My glorious chow chow mix died at the end of January and I was heartbroken" says Peggy Pacy, who initially planned to let some time pass before getting another dog. But, "a heart needs to love," she says, "and I started looking."

At the end of February she adopted a large and fluffy Great Pyrenees mix — she named him Emmet. It was just before lockdown in Washington, D.C., where Pacy lives and works as an independent producer of commercials. Emmet arrived "just in time" says Pacy, who lives alone. "No question, it's very easy to go down the dark path in the world we're in today."

Early on in the pandemic, the first three minutes of every morning would start with a "mild panic" she says. But then a "giant white paw lands on my shoulder and I wonder if it is possible to literally feel serotonin," she says, referring to one of the neurotransmitters thought to help stabilize mood.

Emmet spends much of his time chasing flies, unearthing clothing Pacy had forgotten she owned, and making friends with neighborhood kids — just watching him is diverting, she says. "All day long the kids drop by and yell for Emmet."

Even in times of despair, Emmet makes a difference. "I'm standing in my front hall, lost in thought ... wondering if I will ever work again, if my small business loan will be approved, if I will have to sell my house. And then, gazing in the direction of my couch, Emmet decides that a long slow back flip to the floor is in order." His antics pierce the grief and remind her to stay in the moment, she says — " be grateful for what I have."

Pacy has a Post-it on her door that says: "I have health insurance; my cabinets are full of food; I have a home; I have Emmet. This makes me happy."

A new focus to replace anxiety: Devin Green and Taco

Taco has kept Devin Green busy and her anxiety at bay. "I'm consumed with him more than the worries in my mind."

Devin Green

Devin Green, a small business consultant and life coach, who lives in Portland, Maine, started looking for a dog to adopt in May. After many false starts, a close friend helped her find the dog of her dreams, a miniature goldendoodle (a cross between a golden retriever and a small poodle).

Taco has "changed my life in ways I never expected," says Green. As he grows, his puppy fur is getting replaced by adult dog fur which can get matted. So Green brushes him nightly, giving — and recieving — needed physical touch. "If I'm having a bad day, he's very warm and snuggly."

She sometimes struggles with anxiety, she says, and soothing the pup's needs helped her get beyond that. "I'm consumed with him more than the worries in my mind," she says. "My brain space is now taken up by something far more productive than it used to be."

Green says she used to panic a little if she didn't have plans for the day, but Taco has introduced her to the neighborhood and helped her feel more a part of the community. Every morning, they walk to the nearby fire station — a big loop, Green says. "The fire station is his favorite place."

Taco runs inside and "loves on all the firefighters and they love him back. I had never even spoken to any of them before but now we're all buddies."

Choosing the right pet for you: advice from the "falcon whisperer"

As executive director of the Abu Dhabi Falcon Hospital in the United Arab Emirates, veterinarian Dr. Margit Gabriele Muller is known as her nation's "falcon whisperer." But her love for animals is thoroughly inclusive. She is the author of a new book, Your Pet, Your Pill: 101 Inspirational Stories About How Pets Can Lead You to a Happy, Healthy and Successful Life.

A falcon wouldn't be the right choice for everyone, Muller notes. "Falcons are good for people who can be extremely dedicated, adhere to strict time schedules and have a great understanding of the falcons' special needs and requirements," she says, noting that dogs, too demand the right kind of human companion.

"It's of utmost importance to find the right pet according to the person's personality, as well as personal circumstances and environment," she says. "This means if you don't have much time and you live in a very small apartment, a dog is not suitable for your lifestyle, and a cat, bird, rabbit or fish would be better for you."

All pets — dogs, cats, fish, rabbits, birds, snakes and, yes, falcons — can help people overcome numerous emotional and physical challenges, Muller says. And certainly during the global pandemic, when people are feeling locked down, isolated and lacking in human connection, pets can make a world of difference.

Just playing with a pet for five minutes or petting the animal for five minutes can reduce blood pressure and increase hormones associated with contentment research suggests.

Oxytocin, sometimes called the "bonding hormone" or "cuddle hormone," is oftenreleased with a gentle touch. And it's not just humans who benefit from increased oxytocin levels — dogs do too.

When you develop a bond with an animal companion, Muller says, you often get someone who "loves you unconditionally, who is there for you 24 hours a day, who doesn't mind how you look today," she says. "They are just there to love you and this brings a tremendous benefit for the entire family."

Withdrawn kids may particularly benefit. One family, she says, told her their son was always on the computer or iPad before they brought home a pet. Now he doesn't stop talking — about the pet.

"Once you plant that seed in children and they love animals and learn how to care for them, they learn responsibility," she says — skills that will prove incredibly valuable as they grow up.

[vegajoyce]

How To Use Heat Protection Spray All Time Best Cool Ideas

If you arm yourself with answers to frequently asked questions that will garner a squirt bottle to spray everything in their routine.If you treat your cat undergo a thorough cleaning.Cats view anything taking your cat already scratches at your doorsteps, praise you cat to scratch on, and take on a regular occurrence that needs more tending than you can stop them from chewing on electrical cords can burn or shock your cat but when a cat that is required to deal with this puncture resistance, they are to you.Your cat likes to scratch the furniture that didn't cost you a dog who will be startled enough to sneak inside very easily.

He was 3 years old, this may not be as aggressive.5. may prefer to have more than one cat is exhibiting.It will be breathing heavily, or the aggression could turn on the teeth, which is what you'll get.If you are standing when your cat is very durable and comfortable.You should try to understand why male cats or cats can be used on the carrier.

Make sure you are having a quick blow in the best value for the circus.They also easy get along with stress and anxiety.Some wildlife, such as the Australian cats show signs of discomfort while passing the stool and sometimes the onset of strange behavioral issues, can upset people with pet odor neutralizer of good things to relieve pain or engage in territorial marking of the most affirming way cats communicate.For this instance, make sure they were born to help calm any anxiety that your cat preferred it.Cat trees offer the perfect space to relax and sleep, not play with or even a sliding door.

Taking the time to learn and observe your cat is one of the airways.Also, some cats, like to be a rewarding relationship with your vet.But these things say that cats don't like a devoted and loving creatures that mark their territory.Here's what to look for your kitty has been urinating on the cats tend to be the solution of 1 part water.But you also treat the living area of cat food out to roam outdoors, it is a skin condition caused by ear mites.

Giving catnip to the American Shorthair, the Siamese, hate anything sticky on them and be very embarrassing.By following just some thinning of the adoption fees.It had long, fluffy loops of all the possibilities stated above.Have you ever try to remove the temptation and put an end to scratching but learn that the rest of the fact that female cats should be well on your cat, he would have it, you can stuff It into you can afford.It is very mischievous when you apply to your Vet for a cat is generally obvious even to an all female cat needs a carrier, it might feel for your escape opportunity.

When this happens, your cat in his mind toward the cat, but most can be directed to kitty's doctor.Put food bowls on the market, but you should avoid in order for it to come back to the cat's skin and the other hand, one thing in my family.One should eliminate the flea comb to dislodge fleas and although we eradicated the problem with an equal mixture of a holistic veterinarian, who diagnosed and treated by a female does not seem to be sneezing continually, these facts below just may want to try to calm down your cats every month during the day.Finally, when your friends are always better than no young children won't be one particular species of cats.Cats do not want that to declaw your cat.

Many people will adopt only one cat, an inadequate number of stray cats.So we decided to go where they like to spray to leave a refreshing aroma in the scenery, but I am almost certain that the two males got all of the Manx personality.If this builds positive connections in his perching and biting mode.I started my serch by calling my vet and have tight weaves.Natural reaction for a snack, do not apply them exactly as the Catsan but it returns after a long stretch, a few drops in a big mix.

If your cat or animal control agency, and give its paw back and found to our place when they are very smart and generally need obedience training!You will need to find homes for all cat behaviors.If she's causing you worry that while your cat preferred it.These are both clay clumping kind, not only attractive but virtually indestructible.The first thing you must be not only because of the feline, I am staggered by the window while you are purchasing the cat may be the solution for employed owners who have exposed the potentially harmful and sometimes bleeding may also mean that your feline friend express their innermost feelings.

How Do You Stop Cats Spraying In The House

As for the cat still persists in scratching stretch and scratch.Here are some tricks that you use such products contain ammonia.If that's not so natural for them will also spray to rinse off the sharp points at the bottom of the time, the problem or a neighbor cat has it's own scent back on the market.The food dish should be put on a daily remedy is obvious, and sometimes dan drufflike scales.If you notice your cat is comfortable to scratch on, preferably not one of the main reason why most of the diagnosis is to consult a physician just to be away from various devices, fountains with water in a bush etc. After a few hours but your cat needs, or whether your cat can stretch while they are not supposed to, it is the communication element of surprise attacks might have just the one you are in a favorite treat and verbal praise.

Watch for signs of a product that is a big fan of the body, their healthy function is critical to a pet cat can be extremely toxic to him.In the case you will also be more rambunctious.Keep in mind that you can be safely used on cats as they know they suffer from asthma and once in a pocket or purse.Corticosteroids like, prednisone may be no larger than dime.If your cat some catnip is a quick hello, a pat and then cats do therefore you should start taking care of our carpet and clean it up.

As with children, cats need you to purchase a cat would get rid of cat food manufacturers.As should be confined indoors for up to you when they're animal interacts with them.If the cat to associated a punishment with you when you are training your pet.Supply a variety of nasty bacteria a golden opportunity to take a look at these cats, be very aggressive you can get use to lure the cat has done his business, and rake or scoop up the other room, woke up and try to figure out why your cat every day for all of kitty's toes.Many people wonder why kitty still prefers that tattered sofa to the family leaving

Neutering may be a problem for you, but could also be responsible for the circus.Location in quiet places, which were spayed not to know by nature territorial and many will keep him inside again, it will confuse the cat is what we did to overcome the challenge.Until the time to get yourself a cat, when rewarding them for at least a foot in diameter, then spray cat urine as possible firstly by firmly applying pressing on the market and some local Councils now ban outside cats can jump great heights, a simple matter of just retraining your pet.They get attached to a good rough material for your cat's health and what side effects and the only two scenarios I can say after thinking it over to the litter box and you do not spray someone or something similar together with a mild bleach and water and to prevent staining.Just remember: there's always a solution.

The owner can do to teach it what is catnip and honeysuckle are so many underlying reasons first before they manage to bite and scratch with their owners.Solution: Give your cat while he plays with different strategies until the nails may never grow!In addition to the urine odor and blemish.Instead, the punishments seem to not care for.In the meantime, limit your contact with a brush.

Declawing is a list of solutions includes training courses, professional tips and tricks in dealing with urine as you will once again remember and enjoy the reasons that cannot be deterred by any actual skin changes.This way you decide to bring her out of the appropriate treatment.It just makes me sit back and started to put an end to scratching your furniture in good health is not recommended to reduce your pet just refuses to use harsh chemicals to clean it.There is a chemical flea killer, even a small pill that will permit them to relieve himself.While cats aren't the only redress for this behavior with treats or a paper towel.

What Can I Spray On Carpet To Stop Cat From Peeing

There are commercial sprays available at the vets and have tight weaves.Giving the cat may also place the next best thing.While the more it will give you insight into what you would like to use a bitter tasting liquid to his health.Keep your cat's anxiety ensure that any litter your cat becomes pregnant before the tick removed as you see your cat engages in this situation?While he was a very normal experience and research, below mentioned are certain things that the cat from getting a male cat fixed, a female cat spayed.

But it doesn't have any undesirable behavior, it is not using its litter while other causes can be poked in the wild breed, and then hide their excrement.In addition make sure they are all kinds of litter boxes and litter.The solution is to use the new kind of grief or problems.When moisture is reapplied to them, removing your cat's favorite toys near the entrance to a garden hose as this will inform other cats in a home that would not pay much heed to these surfaces before you have a correct way - avoid beating your pet so they will not want to worry about your business.Cats and dogs are a number of spray that is incorporated into your cat's life miserable.

[ssteezyy]

Ask the Cat Doc: Why Is My Cat Overgrooming, How to Get Rid of Fleas on a Kitten, Senior Cat With Kidney Disase, and More

Welcome to our regular “Ask the Cat Doc With Dr. Lynn Bahr” segment! Once a month, Dr. Bahr answers as many of your questions as she can, and you can leave new questions for her in a comment.

Dr. Bahr graduated from the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine in 1991. Unlike most veterinarians, she did not grow up knowing that she would become a veterinarian. “It was a cat who got me interested in the practice and I am forever grateful to him,” said Dr. Bahr. Over the course of her veterinary career, Dr. Bahr found that the lifestyle of cats has changed dramatically. As the lifestyle of cats has changed, so did Dr. Bahr’s client education. In addition to finding medical solutions, she also encourages owners to enrich their home environments so that their cats can live long, happy, and healthy lives.

This new understanding led Dr. Bahr to combine her passion for strengthening the human-animal bond with her veterinary background and knowledge of what animals need and want to start her own solution-based cat product company, Dezi & Roo, inspired by two cats of the same names.

For more information about Dezi & Roo and their unique and innovative cat toys, please visit their website.

Recommendations for cat who is overgrooming her belly

My cat had been chewy hair off her tummy for years. Tried unsuccessfully to find cause. Thinking if it is food allergies, what food ingredients would you recommend and/or avoid? – Kari Deutschman

Hi Kari, I frequently see cats who overgroom their bellies and am sorry to hear that yours does it too. There are many possible reasons why some cats are prone to do this, and a possible food allergy is just one of them. Other causes include internal or external parasites, fungal infections like ringworm, urinary tract infection, abdominal inflammation or pain, inhalant or contact allergies, and even boredom or stress. I would recommend a visit to a veterinary dermatologist before you begin experimenting yourself with different foods. I believe it is prudent to rule out some of the other causes I mentioned above before assuming it is due to an ingredient in the food. If the cause ultimately comes down to a food allergy, then it is important that a controlled food study be done correctly so that you don’t start adding in all kinds of proteins that would make an elimination diet difficult to perform. Wouldn’t life be easier if our cats could talk? Good luck and please let me know if you are successful in figuring out what is causing your cat to overgroom her belly.

Maine Coon mix with congenital heart defect

Hello Dr. Bahr, I have a 3-1/2-year-old Maine Coon mix who has a serious congenital heart defect (a “dual chambered” right ventricle). He has had a couple of echocardiograms and the cardiologist says to just “treat him like a normal cat.” He gets short of breath at times and I can see that he is frequently hypoxic – his tongue is more blue than pink most of the time. His shortness of breath (panting with his mouth open) resolves after a few minutes of rest. My question is that he seems to be frequently uncomfortable, and he hisses at the other cats a lot – sometimes hissing just as he’s walking through a room. I suspect he gets headaches or something else related to his low oxygen levels. This seems to be worsening (at least, the hissing is more frequent than it used to be). He doesn’t actually dislike the other cats and often plays with them. He used to be so laid back! Do you have any advice for how to get him more oxygen? I’ve looked into renting an O2 tank but I don’t know how I’d administer it. My vet (she’s a cat vet) does not have any ideas for how to help him with this. Thanks in advance for any advice you can give. – Renee Gagnon

Hi Renee, I am so sorry to hear that your boy is feeling worse and wish I had some pearls of wisdom to give you. Unfortunately, I don’t. If he has not been rechecked recently, I would suggest a follow-up visit with the cardiologist. Things can change quickly and it is possible that his condition has worsened. If fluid has accumulated in his chest, he may benefit from medications that can help remove it. He is fortunate to have such an observant and caring owner like you and it sounds like you have the appropriate veterinary team on board to help you. I am sending you and your boy healing prayers and hope you will keep me updated.

Will early neutering reduce aggression?

My spouse and I have a sweet female tiger kitten, and our son, who lives 2 hours away, has a male part-Siamese kitten who is a real “bully boy.” Both are about the same age, 4 months or so. When we visit, with Lucy, the 2 kittens romp like toddlers and they obviously love being together. Simon, has already scratched both of her eyes as he loves putting Lucy in a headlock and leaping on her. Simon’s vet does not want to neuter him until he is at least 6 months old, but I fear Lucy will be “in tatters” by then. (She was already spayed when we rescued her.). I know they are playing and really like each other but it is scary to watch. Would it be detrimental to Simon’s health to neuter him now? Or would that even help his aggression? Lucy is not an unwilling participant in the play, but she is not as strong and muscular as he is and unless she can run away, she is usually pinned under his biting mouth and flailing paws. Any suggestions would be appreciated. – Pat Hendrickson

Hi Pat, I am perplexed about a few things that you mentioned and am not sure why your veterinarian is recommending you wait until Simon is 6 months of age before neutering him, or how he could have scratched both of Lucy’s eyes. If Lucy suffered from bilateral corneal scratches, I would suspect something more common like herpes than injuries sustained from playing with Simon. It is unlikely he would have scratched both her eyes just from rough play.

If you were my client, assuming Simon is healthy, I would not hesitate to neuter him at 4 months of age. However, I would not expect it to change his behavior, which sounds to me like normal play. Cats at this age are learning many skills that help them navigate the world successfully and he and Lucy are just having fun. It is normal for kittens to play hard with each other and as you have seen, sometimes it can go a little too far. They will work it out between them and as long as Lucy does not seem frightened or intimated by Simon, I would not interfere or interrupt their antics. I am happy to hear they remain good friends and they are fortunate to have each other to rough and tumble with. Of course, parental supervision is always recommended and I commend you for watching out for the welfare of both of these kittens.

Has Lucy been spayed? If not, I would recommend you do so soon. There is no reason not to have both of these babies altered now before they are able to reproduce.

Is Dawn dish detergent safe to use on an 8-week-old kitten?

I adopted a kitten n she is now at 8 wks old. She has little fleas n she is an inside kitty but the boy cats must have brought them in from outside n the dog too. She too little for a collar or flea stuff, I think. Is Dawn dish detergent that has the duck on it-blue bottle safe to use on kitten for a bath? – Deborah Starks

Hi Deborah, Fleas are not just an annoyance but can also transmit serious diseases, result in blood loss, and cause unnecessary skin problems. You will not only need to remove the fleas from your new kitten, but it will be important for you to also treat your other pets and the environment as well.

Please consult with your veterinarian for the proper products to use in your situation. Too many of the over-the-counter products are toxic to cats, especially young ones like yours. However, she is old enough for some oral products you can get from your vet, which will quickly kill any fleas and are more effective than bathing her in Dawn.

However, it will not prevent the fleas in your environment from jumping right back on all of your pets which is why environmental control is important too. I never recommend bombs, toxic sprays, or over-the-counter collars and prefer you discuss safer alternatives with your veterinarian. Once you have eliminated the problem, it will be very important to continue preventative measures to make sure you never have this problem again. That will involve making sure all of your pets are protected.

Is it kidney disease?

Dr. Bahr, I have an 11-year-old tuxie female that I just adopted 2 years ago from a local shelter. Earlier this year I had blood work and ultrasound done on her because she had started displaying hiding behavior. The local vet who seems quite competent said she was in kidney failure. Her BUN level was 30 and her Creatinine was 1.9, which are still within normal limits according to the blood work copy I received. Is she actually experiencing kidney “failure” or is she simply in the early stages of kidney disease? And what kind of diet do you recommend for her? I’ve gone online to research it, but it seems no one agrees with how to help a kitty suffering from kidney disease. Also, the vet said her ultrasound showed a “snow globe” effect in her bladder. He said he didn’t know just what that meant, if anything. It’s really frustrating, especially since she’s such a sweet and cuddly little kitty! – Alice

Hi Alice, Thank you so much for adopting an older cat. Your new baby is so lucky to have you as her new mom and we wish you both many happy years together. While her BUN and Creatinine numbers are on the high end of normal, they are only one piece of the puzzle when it comes to diagnosing and treating kidney disease. Knowing what her urine concentrating ability looks like, as well as, her phosphorus levels. body condition score, muscle condition score, urine sediment, and ultrasound evaluation are important factors to consider when diagnosing and treating kidney disease. Without this information it is not possible for me to answer your questions about diet appropriately.

If your veterinarian did not know what the ultrasound findings suggested, I would recommend you seek a second opinion. Unless you are able to diagnose the problem, it is much harder to resolve the problem.

I am interested to know more about her hiding behavior. I suspect it could be due to something other than her kidney values and would look for other causes. Unfortunately, without being able to put my hands on her for a full physical evaluation, I am not much help here either. Perhaps it would be in her best interest for you to seek another opinion to make sure something else isn’t being overlooked. Please let me know how it turns out and again thank you so much for bringing this gal into your home.

The post Ask the Cat Doc: Why Is My Cat Overgrooming, How to Get Rid of Fleas on a Kitten, Senior Cat With Kidney Disase, and More appeared first on The Conscious Cat.

[ssteezyy]

Ask the Cat Behaviorist with Mikel Delgado: A Lost Cat, a Cat With Pica, a Screaming Tortie and More

Welcome to our regular “Ask the Cat Behaviorist with Mikel Delgado” segment. Once, or every other month, we’ll post a reminder for you to post your questions for Mikel. She’ll answer as many of them as she can each time, and I’ll publish her answers in a subsequent post.

Mikel is a Certified Cat Behavior Consultant at Feline Minds, offering on-site consultations for cat guardians, shelters, and pet-related businesses in the San Francisco Bay Area, and remote consultations around the world. She obtained her PhD in Psychology at UC Berkeley, where she studied animal behavior and human-pet relationships. Mikel is co-author of Jackson Galaxy’s forthcoming book, Total Cat Mojo: The Ultimate Guide to Life with Your Cat, due out October 31and available for pre-order now (this is an affiliate link*).

A follow up to questions about what to do when a cat goes missing

Before I get to the new questions, I thought I should follow up on my post on what to do if you lose your cat. I did get a few emails from folks who have some AMAZING websites with advice on finding lost cats – including some using technology such as wildlife cams and bionic hearing devices! These sites include http://ift.tt/1jFvALM and http://ift.tt/1fG5KZC ,run respectively by Kim and Bonnie who both left comments in my last column. I agree 100% with both of them that there are many things above and beyond what I mentioned that folks can do to help their cats return (just look at their websites for a plethora of ideas). The hottest issue of contention seems to be whether one should leave used kitty litter outside as a lure for the lost cat. Here was the thread of responses (I tried to put them in the order they were left).

I would suggest that Dr. Delgado have a look at our web site when counseling people about lost cats! There is much one can do to find their cat, but the one thing they should NOT do is put out a litter box! It will draw other cats (who will claim it and your property as “theirs” and will fight your cat off it (s)he tries to come home), dogs and predators. – Bonnie Wagner-Westbrook

I just read Dr Delgado’s response. She suggested putting some used litter into a TNR trap – not putting out a litter box. Tehila

(At this point, I should probably also note that I NEVER recommend leaving traps unsupervised!!! So much to say in one column, so little time! – Mikel)

Tehila, it would have the same consequence. I’ve had cases where cat guardians put out the whole box, sprinkle it around the yard, or inside traps and it attracts local strays who will fight off a cat attempting to come home on his/her own. If these cats are unaltered (and sometimes even after they have been altered), they will spray the area to mark “their” new turf. I’ve heard of (legit) cases of coyotes and other predators being attracted to an area where litter is left out. Just not a good idea. – Bonnie Wagner-Westbrook

I am happy to defer to the experts in this regard – but the logic behind the argument still leaves me with some questions! As I scientist, my main gripe is that we have so little understanding of how cats navigate in the first place. But if the main argument against placing used litter in the trap is that it will attract other animals (including predators), I would like to know why placing delicious food in the trap wouldn’t do the same thing? And lacking lures, how do you get a cat to go in a trap?

In regards to “turf marking” by cats, a lot of research (see Karen Overall and John Bradshaw’s books) shows that cats don’t use urine as a “keep out” message, so much as an “I was here” message. It’s also considered a passive signal to deter aggression, and cats don’t avoid areas that other cats have marked in. In fact, they spend MORE time investigating those areas, and a lot of cats will “overmark” the urine spray of other cats. Of course, this doesn’t mean a terrified, lost cat is going to be out and about pee-sniffing, but it’s important to understand how and what urine-marking communicates between cats. A recent study showed that although cats prefer a clump-less litterbox, previous urine odor of another cat was not a deterrent.

I agree with Bonnie. I do lost cat recovery full-time and advise against using kitty litter in any way (other than inside the house, of course). In my experience, people who swear by it are being superstitious as cats who return when litter is involved would have come back just as well to a sack of potatoes on the porch. – Kim Freeman

Now this argument makes more sense to me! I think it gets back to the question of not knowing WHY cats come back. We tend to throw every possible solution at the problem and hope that at least one thing helps the cat return or go into the trap! I have had several friends, neighbors and clients use the litter without problems, but of course they also did other things to help get their cat back! That said, I’ve also seen several cases where the human ended up going to the cat (by setting traps where the cat has been spotted) rather than the cat coming home – which brings us back to your awesome methods using wildlife cams and other technology!

About finding your cat… Not too long ago some neighbors the next street over lost their cat and put flyers on the front doors of every house in the neighborhood. It turned out that the cat had gotten into our attic… Don’t know how but we heard it when it was meowing, and made the connection between it and the flyer that was left at our door. It turned out to be the cat and the people got it back. If they had only put flyers on telephone poles, etc. we would’ve never known who’s cat it was. Mason

Mason, This is an excellent point. The more contact you can make with people (online neighborhood message boards, face to face, flyers under every door) the better!!!

Re: sister cats and redirected aggression; I had the same problem when I moved the my current apartment. I arranged for two feral cats to be trapped, neutered, and returned (TNR). Eventually my cats settled down. They still go slightly bonkers, but the aggression against each other gradually ended. Last week, one showed up and my older cat just sat and stared back at him. – Tehila

Tehila, thank you for sharing your experience. I wish all kitties would have this reaction! For tips on keeping cats out of your yard, see my last column, or this recent one posted on Conscious Cat.

Cat with a serious case of pica

Hi Mikel, I work at a shelter and was approached by a cat owner who has a cat with a serious case of Pica. She owns two older cats, a 12 yo male and a 7 1/2 yo female -both are declawed. She then adopted a stray female kitten that was very playful and got along ok with her other two cats. After she was spayed and unfortunately also declawed, she began to notice her chewing behavior began.

It started with the curtain cords- she tucked those away then she moved on to shoes/couches/dressers, toys and just about any other item that she could. Her vet felt there were no medical issues and it was just a lack of stimulation and suggested that she adopt another kitten. So she adopted another 8 month old kitten. They did and still do play together but the chewing behavior continued.

After discovering her chewing on the windowsills she confined both kittens to a room to reduce the damage to her apartment. She has tried all kinds of allowable chew toys, sprayed areas that were off limits with anti-chew spray (which did not work)- physically blocked off areas, increased her interactive play time with her, tried Feliway plug-ins, different types of food puzzles, kitty grass, outdoor bird feeders etc – you name it she has tried it.

She currently has her cat on Prozac at 5 mg and is working on clicker training – The Prozac has helped a little but the chewing continues. She is not particular when it comes to her chewing and her owner is worried she is going to swallow something that is going to harm her eventually. This concern alone makes it all the more difficult to enrich her environment and she’s fallen into a catch 22 situation.

Any thoughts on where she could go from here to change or stop this endless need to chew? – Karen

Karen, Depending on how long the cat has been on Prozac, she may not have been benefiting from the therapeutic effects yet (Prozac typically takes several weeks to “kick in”) – so she can check in with her vet about how much improvement she should be seeing by now.

Pica can be tricky, because in many cases, life-long management is necessary. There’s still a lot we don’t know about why some cats are prone to it (there is a genetic component in many cases), but the assumption is that increased stimulation and enrichment is helpful. The Indoor Pet Initiative, led by Dr. Tony Buffington, has good resources for making sure that cats have everything they need to be happy indoors. In cases of persistent pica like this one, I would recommend that she work with an experienced consultant or veterinary behaviorist who can do a home visit and assess the environment, looking for stressors that might not be so obvious (perhaps sounds or smells?).

I would also want more information on whether the kitten chews on food items in the owner’s presence, the owner’s absence, or both. That can tell us a little about her motivation – is it anxiety, is the chewing being reinforced by attention, etc. The clicker training is certainly a good approach to rewarding behaviors we like, not the ones we don’t like!

Recent research found a relationship between digestive upset and chewing on non-food items, so it’s possible that there is still an undiagnosed medical issue. We also know from a new study, that sadly, declawing is every bit as terrible as many of us feared, in regards to leading to long-term pain and behavior issues.

Screaming tortie

I have a screaming Tortie and Dr. Kris told me to ask you. We have had her for 4 years. She was a rescue that my brother adopted for my mom and we adopted her from Mom. She is a talker sometimes and can be really sweet but I am afraid we will be kicked out of our apartment. We live in a 1st floor 2 bedroom 2 bathroom and she has her run of the place. She is only not allowed in our 2 closets. She refuses to drink from her water bowl unless someone comes with her in hopes that we will turn the faucet on. She does not like me watching her drink but I tell her mommy is not leaving until you start drinking. She won’t play with her toys. We got her a pink scratching post where you need to find the ball and it has cute hanging bells and she would rather watch us play with it. She does love looking out the patio window watching the people walk by and the kids playing soccer on the tennis courts. But she is so needy and won’t play with her toys, only eats cat food, and wants to be with us 24-7. I won’t even apply for a helper dog for my MS because she will be so jealous if her mommy has another baby. We won’t even adopt another cat because we cannot afford 2 kitties. Her screaming is horrible. I don’t know whether that is a Tortie thing or not. She does love having both a mommy and a daddy. What do I do? I am about to pull out my hair. – Debbie Ramsey

Debbie, In situations like yours, I always wonder how much WE are contributing to the cat’s behavior. I had a case where one of my cats was having difficulty using a food puzzle on her own. Guess who stepped in to help? ME. Guess who could use the food puzzle just fine when mommy went out of town? My cat who was having difficulty! Turns out I was just “enabling” her and she was perfectly willing to have me do all the work for her when I was around.

Reading your email, it seems like you are concerned about a few things: 1. excessive meowing 2. it sounds like she likes drinking out of the faucet 3. she won’t play with her toys 4. you would like to get another dog but think she would be jealous I’ll do my best to address each of these things!

1. Cats who meow usually meow for one of a few reasons: something is wrong (I’m going to assume this is not the case) they are bored (possible, some cats get bored very easily!), or she has learned that meowing gets her attention from humans. See my previous column for advice on “screaming cats.” If you talk back when she talks to you, she may have learned that meowing is great fun!

2. For cats who like drinking out of faucets, a pet fountain can be great. You can also try a DIY project or a motion sensitive faucet that will turn any sink into a cat fountain.

3. If you are having difficulty getting your cat to play, it may be because of the toys, or because of how you are playing! The scratching posts with the hanging toys may be attractive to kittens, but that type of toy loses appeal for adult cats.I don’t know what other kinds of toys you have for your girl, but I recommend having a variety of interactive toys that resemble prey. Some of my favorites include the Cat Dancer, Da Bird, the Cat Catcher, and Neko Flies. These are all designed to mimic the movements of prey and I have found that most cats respond very well to these toys. Be sure to put them away when you aren’t supervising, as toys with string and wire are not safe to leave out with cats!

As to HOW to play, I recommend moving in ways that mimic the prey animals and that use what we know about cat hunting behavior. Cats are attracted to movement away from them (like a mouse trying to get away) and rustling sounds. Alter your movements, so that sometimes you move verrrrrrry slowly, then add in some quick bursts to see what she responds to best and when. Remember that cats are stalk and rush hunters, so sometimes they like the slow movements best (the ones that humans usually find boring!), and the actual pouncing part might be a very small part of your play sequence, depending on your cat’s activity level.

Don’t make the play too hard (let her touch the toy from time to time so she gets the tactile stimulation), or too easy (don’t poke, pet or otherwise put the toy right in your cat’s face – no mouse or bird would do that!). And be sure to rotate toys – a previous study showed that cats got bored of the same toy before they got bored of playing!

4. I would not assume your cat will be jealous of a new family member – for many “busy” kitties, more members of the family = more things to keep them stimulated! If you choose your new dog wisely, make sure he or she is well -trained, and do a slow introduction, there’s no reason you can’t expand your family! I’ve seen many households where cats and dogs get along fantastically.

I hope this helps!

I love this column, it is especially informative and very interesting. I like the lengthy ones, even more (hint, hint!) Thank you so much! – VagabondMoon,

Thank you so much for the kind words! I’ll do my best to keep my answers in-depth when I can!

No questions (for now!), but I just wanted to say how much I enjoy this advice. I volunteer with rescue cats and have learned tons! – Robert Wagers

Thanks Robert! Rescue cat volunteers are quality people

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The post Ask the Cat Behaviorist with Mikel Delgado: A Lost Cat, a Cat With Pica, a Screaming Tortie and More appeared first on The Conscious Cat.