Sophie & Gizmo Have Been Replaced

We have two cats: Gizmo and Sophie. We rescued Sophie from the shelter in 2003 and Kevin has had Gizmo since 2001: right when we started dating. They have been our babies ever since. Anyone who is an animal lover knows how much energy you put into your pets. You worry about them, you spend hundreds of dollars at the vet, you can’t wait to get home from work to see them, you post pictures of them, you have their pictures up at work, people ask you about them and you actually think you don’t want to go on vacations because you don’t want to leave them alone. You feel like there’s nothing on earth you love more than these little creatures. I remember once telling my friend Sherry that the kitties were my babies and I loved them as much as I would love a child. Now I know why she snickered at that.

Before I was pregnant, the cats were the rulers of our roost. Both of them would sleep with me: Gizmo at the foot of the bed and Sophie right by my head. Sophie would actually “tuck me in” at night: she would do her paw thing on my chest until I’d let her go under the covers and lay on me. She’d sleep for about 10 minutes then jump off. At that point, I was warm and cozy and ready for sleep: Sophie had done her job well. She’s our active kitty: she loves to play and pounce and likes to follow Kevin into the kitchen and rub on his legs. He’s the only one she does that with…it’s pretty darn cute.

Gizmo is a whole other story. Anyone who’s seen that cat lately is shocked: the animal certainly doesn’t miss a meal. I think he’s about 18 pounds now: he looks like a manatee. He is our surrogate dog: he follows us around, he plays fetch, he sits at our feet, he watches over the house and he knows how to beg. He’s also an attention-whore because he looooooooves being petted and he will not discriminate anyone. He is a lover cat and can’t stand being left out of things. When a door was shut and he was on the outside, he would meow over and over again to be let in and if that didn’t work, he’d put his paw under the door and move it back and forth until we’d get frustrated enough with the banging and let him in.

Then I got pregnant. Life as they knew it was about to change. It started when I couldn’t let Sophie do her paw thing on my tummy anymore. I remember her little face the first time I had to push her off of me. She looked at me like I was a traitor and she didn’t understand: she kept coming back. I had to keep pushing her off until she finally just jumped down and left. She didn’t try to tuck me in anymore after that. Then I had to start kicking them both off of the bed entirely because I was so uncomfortable. If you’ve seen Gizmo, then you know that moving him is no small feat: especially when he doesn’t want to be moved. It’s like shoving a small hippo off your bed. Then he jumps right back up and you have to repeat it about 10 times before he finally goes away.

Sophie tried to adapt, however. When I was lying on the couch, she would come up and try to lie with me. After some experimenting, we figured out that if I lay on my side, she could lie on the baby belly and she wouldn’t hurt the baby. We spent many happy hours like that…Sophie keeping me and the baby company while I chilled out on the couch.

Then the baby was born. One of the first things I remember from the haze of the delivery room was when they were cleaning Maelin up and Kevin said, “There’s Sophie’s replacement.” It was funny at the time and I was so drugged and exhausted and overwhelmed I didn’t think much of it until we brought Maelin home. I looked at my beautiful new daughter and thought to myself that I would do anything for her. Then we went into her room and Sophie was sleeping on her changing table and Gizmo was sleeping on the rocking chair. I didn’t even hesitate: I took the spray bottle and slammed them both and yelled at them and when they both ran out, I didn’t feel bad at all. Later, it hit me: they had been replaced and in a big way. The funny thing was I didn’t really care. They were just cats. I’d never thought of them like that before: just cats, but that’s what they are. I was shocked that I felt this way about them because I had always thought of them as our babies and little people. As much as we love them and are happy they are part of our family, they don’t come first anymore.

Sophie doesn’t sleep with me anymore because I have to get up too often to suit her. She still tries to tuck me in: she comes to bed with me but she goes directly to the foot of the bed and stays there. Having her down there makes me sad for a brief moment, but then I’m so exhausted, I feel like I don’t even have the energy to care. Then I look at her sweet face and I’m happy she’s trying. It makes things feel a bit more like the way they used to be.

Gizmo has had a hard time adjusting to this new arrangement. When I’m feeding Maelin, he’s been known to come and try to lay on me at the same time. Or he will plop himself right down in the middle of Maelin’s room so you have to acknowledge that he’s there or you trip over him. We try to give them both some extra attention, but we just don’t have the time. They are, after all, just cats. Their pictures will be replaced, the stories will be changed. We still love them, but our daughter has shown us a love we didn’t know existed. No pet can ever come close to that.