Cat vs Dog

Okay, for all of thier lives, my children lived with a dog. Of course, we had our first baby, Beau, a yellow lab long before our first human baby and he was spoiled beyond belief. We put up with our share of problems with him. First of all, we got him when we were "living in sin" so to speak and renting the downstairs of the house. Now, the upstairs tenant had a barking little rat dog so it didn't even occur to us that no pets were allowed so imagine our surprise when we were kicked out of our house when the landlord entered our premises illegally and saw the newspaper all over the kitchen floor. We moved on, ending up in Conconully, Washington. A small town that should have accomodated a free roaming dog very well. Guess again! It so happens that the house down the road had chickens and the owner was known to shoot any dog that set foot on the property, whether after the chickens or not. So, Beau was left in the house and found other things to do, like tearing up the entire carpet in front of the door. Beau was finally able to roam free when we moved back to Gig Harbor and lived a happy life until his death on my youngest son's 4th birthday. We buried him in the midst of a snow storm on the property of our new home which we had not yet finalized buying.
So, after awhile, it was time for a new family member. At nine years old, our oldest son wanted a puppy for Christmas. After an exhaustive search just a few days before Christmas Santa finally found that perfect female, yellow lab puppy. She was Murphy Brown and was a member of the family for almost 16 years. I can't even tell you the trouble she caused! But more importantly, I can't even begin to relate the treasured memories she helped our family create. She could jump and run higher and faster than any dog I have ever seen before. She actually had some Greyhound or Whippit in her so she was very different looking. When the boys were young, she would easily jump onto the top bunk bed to sleep with them. No problem. Later in life she paid for that when she ruptured a disc in her neck and became completely paralyzed. She was 11 at that time and a cervical fusion surgery done at Washington State University saved her life. While she was never able to run or jump as she did before, she lived for another 4 years happily as part of our family. I loved her very much and her passing was one of the hardest things I have ever had to go through.
So, in the past year my world really became very empty losing my dog, my dad and realizing that those boys who are still the joy of my life are creating their own joys in life that don't include me or us. That is as it should be, don't get me wrong. I raised them to do just that. Somehow though I can't get over the feeling that my job is done. What is my purpose in life now? I figure I have about 30 good years left on earth, if I'm lucky, so what do I do in those 30 years to continue to feel important, vital, needed?
Answer: Adopt a cat. Pepper was left to be euthenized at the vets due to a jaw injury the treatment for which was too expensive for the owners. The cause of the injury is unknown but with the four front teeth knocked out and the jaw hyperextended I would be surprised if a kick from an owner was involved. Anyway, having never in my life had any experience whatsoever with a cat there was no way I ever imagined having one. I guess this could be considered thinking outside the box. We saw Pepper at the local pet store, everyone said he was the nicest cat and low and behold, he came home with us. He has really been a dream cat. He is loving, cuddly, very low maintainance. Until now. After two weeks of being home during the holidays Pepper got used to someone paying attention to him all day. The first day back to work, he went upstairs and pooped on one bed and the next Monday went upstairs and pooped on the other bed. Okay, so we have now learned to close those bedroom doors! It just goes to show that nothing worth having is perfect. We still love Pepper, we just need to realize that cats are just as needy as dogs, if not more so.
I think I still prefer dogs but after Murphy, it is going to be hard to have any dog as special as she was.