Luna Eclipse

Could this dog person ever love a cat?

- Carol A. Bocan,PH.D., Conneautville, Pennsylvania

ALL MY LIFE I’D HAD DOGS. BUT after my Shih Tzu had to be put down at age two because of genetic problems, I vowed, no more. I couldn’t go through the heartbreak.

I live alone and I missed having the companionship of a pet. So much that after nine months of a dogless existence, I couldn’t take it anymore. “The house feels empty,” I told my brother. He and his wife live across the street. “I’m getting another dog.”

“Carol,” he said, “you’ll be seventy eight soon. We don’t want you out in the rain or snow, walking a dog. If you must have an animal, get a cat!”

A cat? Did I even like cats? I’d certainly never lived with one. I was a dog person! Still, to placate my brother, I agreed to consider getting a cat. But it had to be the right one. The only way I could be sure about that was to pray about it. I appealed to Saint Francis. Who better than the patron saint of animals to take my request to the Lord?