Peanut squirmed in her owner’s arms as she was carried from hiding to meet the new pet sitter. She was super shy with outsiders, always streaking into hiding when the door buzzer sounded. Yet her owner believed meeting new people would help Peanut become less afraid and what better way to get acquainted than from the sheltering arms of her favorite human?
The closer they came, the more Peanut twisted and turned, the firmer her owner’s embrace. With her head tucked under the owner’s chin, only I could see Peanut’s face. And when I did, she tried to disappear under an enfolding arm, her ears flattened with two black holes for eyes. Peanut’s body language screamed terror yet she did not utter a sound.
“Could you pet her a little, let her know you’re a friend?” Instead I suggested giving Peanut some space, quickly explaining that busy pet sitters spend their days accumulating dog schmutz and cat fur which is quite off-putting to cats we are meeting for the first time. That was true though Peanut’s quiet panic was way beyond offensive odors. I dissuaded the owner by offering Peanut’s wild-eyed struggle as proof.
That’s when the owner noticed her cat’s distress. As soon as she was let go, Peanut raced out of sight. I was her pet sitter for almost two years and never got so much as a sneak peak.
Oh holy hell
Peanut’s care had been penciled on my schedule just in case the owner’s family did not make it into town for the holidays. Fortunately all the weather gods cooperated and during their first evening together, the owner carried Peanut from hiding to meet the family.
Not long into the oohs and aahs, Peanut flipped into defensive mode scratching at her owner’s face, desperate to escape the well-meaning strangers. Relatives jumped back with a collective gasp as the owner jerked her head away, loosening her hold on Peanut. But she did not move fast enough. Family members scrambled to stanch the flow of blood from a scratch that sliced through her upper lip while working phones in a feverish search for a skilled plastic surgeon available to step in after seven pm on Christmas Eve.
Lesson learned
Peanut got into trouble because she was adorable and the owner wanted to share the affectionate pet she knew with everyone. From a hospital bed she confessed to her parents how little she understood about Peanut’s fear of outsiders, promising to let her pet decide when it was safe to come out of hiding.
Months later I crossed paths with the owner who shared a holiday story that ended with two layers of first-rate stitching and considerable discomfort. A bright pink line curved from above her upper lip to the inside of her mouth. By the following Christmas it was barely visible.
