Crazy Cat Lady

I am a self-confessed ‘crazy cat lady’ – my husband and I adore our cat babies and have had more since this story was written, including a beautiful girl called ‘Happy’. This is one of my favourite and earliest stories since I met God, written in 2016. I hope you enjoy it.

I’ve only been a Christian for a while, but I’ve come to realize that God can speak to us in many ways. One of the ways he has spoken to me was through my cats! After my partner Tam was granted a visa to stay with me in New Zealand, we decided to make a commitment and get a pet cat. We’d been to the SPCA a few weeks earlier to check out the options and out of about 15 cats one caught my eye because she was called Faith. So after we got the visa we went back and I made an agreement with God – if she was still there I would trust him and get her. There were only 4 cats there and Faith was one of them so it was a done deal!

Tam and I were going through a really rough patch at the time and Faith really helped us. Whenever we raised our voices she would come running to us instead of away and calm us down. She bonded with Tam so strongly that she followed him everywhere and sometimes in the heat of an argument he would say “I’m only staying for the cat”!

At Christmas, our neighbours got her a big rock with ‘Faith’ engraved on it as a present and we joked at the time that maybe they wanted her dead! A few weeks later she was tragically attacked by our boss’s dogs right in front of Tam as I was on my way to church. He called me in distress and for a moment I wondered ‘should I carry on to church and pray for her or go straight home’? I went straight home of course, but she died on the way to the vets. We used the rock as her headstone.

We were both devastated – she was like our baby. The grief actually brought us closer together though and thankfully Tam did not leave me – we actually got married a few months later! After Faith died, my actual Faith wavered and I began to question God. Why did he give her to us and then let this happen? Did we ‘idolize’ her too much? Do cats go to heaven? I was watching the Christian TV channel a few days later and a picture of a cat sleeping came up on screen with this quote from the bible: ‘I will lie down in peace and sleep; for you alone O Lord make me dwell in safety’ (Psalms 4:8), and I knew she was at peace. I realised my Faith was being tested through Faith! Would I blame and reject God for what happened or be grateful for the time we did have with her?

We debated whether to risk getting another cat and went back to the SPCA several times just to look. The only remotely biblical name that I could ever find was Madeline (from Mary Magdalene) but we still weren’t sure. When we finally decided to go for it and actually took the cat box with us, I prayed again for God to choose one for us. Tam was surrounded by gorgeous cats but I was only interested in the names – Madeline was still there but I wasn’t convinced! The last one I looked at hadn’t even bothered to get up as if she knew she didn’t need to try – her name was Angel! I announced to Tam that this was the one, to his disappointment. We put the cat box down in front of her and she stretched and walked in.

Angel was a blessing – again she bonded immediately with both of us and made herself right at home. This time I prayed for her safety. 4 months later we got married and went on our honeymoon to England (where we also had a blessing service with my family). We took Angel to stay at the SPCA cattery and couldn’t help going in to look at the cats again! Poor Madeline was still there after 7 months, so when we got back we took her home with us too. She also settled in well but our little Angel turned into a Devil with jealousy! They have both brought us lots of joy and ‘parenting practice’ over time and I thank God for them.