I first met Othello on the 2nd of April 2002, the day after he was born when my mother & I returned home to find her cat, Minnie, had given birth. I was only 18 at the time & was planning to move from my parents house in June but absolutely insisted on keeping one of the babies. From that day forwad I would come home from school, scoop him from his cat family & spend hours sitting in my wheelchair with my laptop in front of me doing my homework & chatting with friends on MSN Messenger.
I had just gotten an assistance dog in November of 2001 & in our 2 week training course we learned how they taught the dogs to do all the things we needed & to prepare them for the smells, sights, sounds & touches of the world. Im not sure when but it was within his first week of life I decided Othello was going to be a Therapy cat, I mean, why not?? Our local Therapy animal team included a rabbit! So, his training began. Everyday I would touch him everywhere, introduce him to strange noises, all the neighbours, my friends & family. At just 2 weeks of age he went for his first car ride on my moms lap to pick me up from school. To this day I still do these things, though not daily.
After I graduated & moved away, of course bringing Othello with me, my plans for him as a Therapy cat went askew as no one can truly explain how hard & time consuming life on your own is, plus my health took a turn for the worse. Plus, its actually quite difficult to get an animal certified for the program.
Basically, for the next 5 years we moved around a lot but never without my faithful Othello.
I will continue our story sometime soon but for now I hope you enjoyed “The First 5 Years”.