College Cat

I felt like I was ready for a pet and no matter how ready I felt was, having one was totally different than I expected. Before I found Luna, I imagined I was ready for a pet. My name is Cameron Kipper, a Morehouse College Junior philosophy major from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Actually, I’ve only been at Morehouse for two years, but I earned dual enrollment credits in high school. Before returning to Atlanta for the second semester of Junior year, I wanted a pet. I can remember a conversation with my mom about getting an animal before coming to Atlanta. “It would be better to get one when you get back.” She said, “It wouldn’t make sense to get an animal, then have to take it there when you travel… it’d be simpler to get one in Atlanta and worry about everything there.” I was going to get a rabbit, but after coming to Atlanta the thought of a pet skipped my mind as I brought in the new semester. I had to situate my room, organize my schedule and establish a plan to ease into the semester. I remember walking home, the dorm, after debate practice. Like everyday of 2019 so far… it was cold outside. Like a shadow merging into the street, I saw her skip across asphalt. Her adorable little frame bobbed quickly a cracked corner to the sidewalk on the parallel street. Almost innately, I whistled lowly to signal her over. I figured I’d try taking her inside to some warmth, but what surprised me was that she came! Then instantly she liked being pet and I took her inside just like that. It’s only the third week of school and like 18 credit hours and a work study program, this cat would make me 3x as busy, but after a day I couldn’t imagine her gone. Her is Luna. Luna is the cat. I have a female black cat named Luna. I have no idea where she came from, but because the weather has been at record lows and doesn’t seem to be changing. Of all possibilities that could’ve occurred this early in the semester, I never considered owning a cat in college could be one. Once she was inside, I brought her into my friend Josh’s room. He lived next to the door I came in and he basically melted when she leaped from my arms onto his couch. We watched her look around for a while until the conversation of her care rose up, straightened our backs and offered the sense of adulthood. There’s an Atlanta stray cat in our dorm room, so she either needs to be taken care of or put back, but no in between. We lifted her belly and scanned her for red rashes or pink ears to indicate fleas. We looked in her eyes to check for rabies then noticed her claws when we pet her like a dog. Quickly a Petsmart price estimation for a bath, shots and nail clipping rung up. Right before she started sneezing and squinting. She sneezed from a cold and squinted from exhaustion. We forgot whether cats drink water when we offered her food and the food was just a sandwich. Naturally, Luna made her first appearance on Josh’s social media before the door could shut. Once we knew how to care for her, Josh’s phone was screaming, “Give our cat back!” Some of his friends had taken her without taking care of her. Now they wanted her back. By then I felt entitled and I knew I’d be offering a better home. We shook on meeting up early for a vet appointment after he hung up. Luna and I went upstairs and I tucked her into a box with a pair of old sweatpants and filled a reused plastic takeout dish with almond milk in case she got hungry. I felt like a father tucking in his daughter. But as my room door shut with her outside of it I was reintroduced to my real reason for walking through the cold to a closet sized dorm room. I’m a college student. I’m supposed to learn and make connections, but I knew Luna would offer me lessons about myself and life. So, in my third week of my junior year at Morehouse, I own a cat in college.

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