Neena

Meet Neena, the newest member of the Bertic family. Yes, we got a kitty!

The kids have been wanting another pet since we moved into our apartments and couldn't bring Mazy with us. Mazy was our dog. She was a little dog (wiener dog actually), but she was very, very aggressive. We were told that the apartments were strict about aggressive animals and you could be evicted if enough people complained about your pet. Mazy had enough of a bad reputation with previous neighbors that we didn't want to take any chances.

She was wonderful with us. She was simply overprotective and prone to escaping out the front door and chasing people for blocks while convincing them she was a doberman. We left her with John's parents and still cared for her basic needs, but when mom and dad went to Illinois for a month at a time (at least two times a year), we had to figure out how to care for her while they were gone. Sometimes, we planned to be on vacation at the same time they were. This posed a real problem.

In the end, we prayed and found a wonderful new home for Mazy on ten acres of ranch with eight other dogs just like her and dozens of ducks and stray cats to chase and torture. The kids were satisfied that she was safe and happy, but still sad that their pet had to find a new home. Thus started the "wanting".

Last weekend after the camping trip, we took Jonathan's friend Leo home and he introduced us to Neena. Leo's dad found her under a car, stopping traffic just outside Busch Gardens on Busch Boulevard. He took her home, cleaned her up, and they began the process of finding a home for her. As far as the kids were concerned once they saw her, she now had a home.

They worked on dad for hours, begging, pleading, offering to take care of her every need that arose. John was never opposed to a cat, but it would mean coming up with a security deposit and $15 a month extra for our lease. He told the kids he would find out what the deposit was on Monday and let them know his decision then.

The answer was in the total...$300.00!! Ben and Jonathan produced half with their saved chore and birthday money, but in the end, it was just too much to justify for a pet, especially with other bills looming. The kids were disappointed, but relented just the same. Jonathan did refuse to give up however, even to the point of calling Leo and telling him to hold the kitten a few more days while we prayed. He asked all of youth group to pray for us as well. Spontaneously throughout the next few days, Jonathan would ask me to pray for us to be able to somehow get the kitten.

Laying in bed the other night I remember a website someone sent me for Jeremiah about service cats. The website explains that cats can learn to initiate play, recognize and interrupt repetitive or compulsive behavior, provide tactical comfort by staying in the child's lap and sitting still for several minutes at a time, and play without use of claws, or teeth. They can also be trained to assist the child when they feel overwhelmed in over stimulating situations, social situation tolerance, distract the child when they are becoming frustrated with routine tasks, provided some sense of "sameness" if the child's routine changes suddenly, facilitate child's improved communication. The cats will also be able to carry via her tags information about the child's condition, who the child is, and how to help in the event of a "shut down".

Needless to say, the wheels started spinning and I went to the office the next day and asked about service animals. There is NO security deposit or additional monthly fee for service animals! I phoned Jeremiah's doctor and spoke with her and she agreed that a cat would provide great behavioral therapy for Jerry and she sent a prescription to that effect to the apartment's office. They added Neena to our lease and the rest is history!

The kids were overjoyed of course and Jonathan sees his prayers as answered, though we did discuss that sometimes the answer is "no" and we just have to accept that. He agreed though he said that would have been difficult to accept. I told him it usually is, but God always knows better than we do.

We headed to the pet store and got a scratching post (to save our furniture), a few toys, food, and a littler box. God is so good! The store refills your litter tub with scoopable little for only .39 a pound. So next is to the vets for shots and spaying.

And then the training begins. First we will harness train her. Then we will leash train her and work on simple commands. We have the help of Tenere Kingdom, the website we were sent. Tenere Kingdom was created by a boy named Samuel. Samuel is 14 and has Asperger's Syndrome. His mom gave him an assignment to write a paper on a business he could "create" that would help others. After finding two stray cats, Samuel not only created his business on paper, but has made it his desire and goal to help others like him for real.

Samuel has a service cat that was prescribed for him and he has reaped the benefits of its companionship and training. Samuel's vision is to create a service/therapy placement center for children with autism and other kids who would benefit from a service cat. Traditionally, therapy and service animals are dogs. However, Tenere Kingdom believes that cats may be a better choice for some kids with autism. Their small size makes them less frightening than dogs, and their independence makes them easier to care for. Cats can be fully trained for many tasks and even obey command like dogs.

Samuel's story is amazing and he is working on his business licensing and non-profit status through recycling soda tabs! Such a neat kid and passion to help others! Anyway, his website features training tips, a downloadable guide, and videos of his cats that he is currently training, as well as updates on their progress.

For more information about Tenere Kingdom, visit http://www.freewebs.com/tenerekingdom/index.htm.

So we're off on our new adventure! Cat ownership and training 101! We'll keep everyone posted. I will probably post videos and update everyone of Neena's training progress on this blog. We appreciate your prayers on this journey!

• ...if when you were a kid, and other kids wanted to play ball, you wanted to turn toy cars over and spin their wheels.

• ...you have passed many a happy minute watching a fan spin.

• ...the word "Hallmark" makes you think "When you care enough to send the very best", and you can remember tons of those kinds of "ad" lines and you use them in everyday speech. (Jeremiah says, “Eat Fresh” whenever we pass a Subway.  After hearing me talk about specials at Publix, he also now repeats the phrase, “Buy one, get one.”)

• ...if you think an old fashioned egg beater is a very cool toy.

• …you get irritated when people come up to talk to you when you are doing something important like staring at a wall, watching the tires spin on an upturned bicycle, or trying to find a space in your mind that is not overwhelmed by noise.

• ...you have more than once gone out into public with socks that don't match or your shoes on the wrong feet and refuse to change them once you notice.

• …you go into a tizzy because a family member who ought to know better gives as a birthday present something you already have.

• …you not only line things up, you always line them up in a symmetrical arrangement.

• ...your get told not to step on someone's toes at work so you start looking at the floor while you walk because you took it literally.  (Jeremiah cried when he heard that a girl’s fever had “broken”.  We also cannot say it is raining cats and dogs outside!  Also, ask him to hold his breath and he grabs his mouth in an attempt to literally hold his breath.)

• ...someone wants to get past you and says "excuse me" and you reply "sure" without moving a bit.

• …you run into someone three times without ever apologizing, but then run into a tree and stammer, “I’m sorry.”

• ...you collect action figures and have more than 300 and know the names of all of them (and their personalities), but you still mix up your relatives.

• ...you follow rules to the letter - but only if they make sense to you.

• …as a child you believed anything your family told you because you didn't comprehend the concept of lying or "teasing".  So if your older brother told you that thunder was God bowling you believed him until you learned otherwise.

• …when you were a little kid playing "Doctor", you ignored the other kids and fixated on the stethoscope.

• …you've ever told somebody, "I'M NOT IMMATURE--I'M NOT, I'M NOT, I'M NOT, I'M NOT, I'M NOT!!!!"

• …when someone recommends that you ask Jesus into you heart, you form a mental picture of him changing the wallpaper in your left atrium.  (Jeremiah ran in a panic to someone’s front door once because we commented that it looked like a tornado had ripped through their front yard, as they were in the process of cleaning out their garage.  He took us literally!)

• …you own more than 3 different types of earplugs or sunglasses.

• …you play 'Name That Bruise!' in the bath, because you have no idea where you got them.

• …you hate having to talk on the phone and confine your conversational depth to 'Yup', 'Nope', and 'Bye'.

• …your hands are always covered in burns, cuts and scars, and the only ones you noticed getting are the really spectacular ones, but they never hurt anyway.  (Jeremiah watched his finger burn after putting it in a candle and wax.  He had third degree burns.  He has touched light bulbs in the past and burned himself then too, but doesn’t remember doing it and doesn’t react to the pain.  Other times, he could barely bump his head and scream bloody murder!)

• …you wave at people on billboards or manequins in store windows and then have a meltdown because they didn’t wave back at you.  (Yes, Jeremiah has done this.)

• …you wave your arms, flap your hands, and jump up and down while watching your brothers and sister play video games because you are visually stimulated by the graphics.  This behavior is called stimming, by the way.

• …you insist on sitting by the window in a restaurant so you can stare out the window and watch cars going by the whole time.

• …you cry because there are too many kids in your class, and you don’t really want to play with any of them.

• …you are loud yourself, but cry from the over-stimulation of hearing someone or something else be loud.

• …you find yourself always asking, “What’s that smell?”

• …you ask for cereal for breakfast, only to end up in tears because you really wanted waffles, and then cry because the waffles are not what your sister is eating and what your brother has looks even yummier.  (By the way, this repeats at lunch and dinner too!)

• …you repeat yourself over and over and over because you just don’t feel like anyone is listening to you (or at least not responding to you).

• …you laugh when someone you love gets hurt or in trouble, but you don’t know why it’s funny and you know they are going to get mad at you for laughing.

• …it’s almost painful to have to look someone in the eyes.

• …you can’t tell the difference between someone really bleeding and a Halloween costume.

• …you think you too can shoot webs from your wrists like Spiderman, and then cry when it doesn’t work for you.

• …you ask if stuffed animals and baby dolls are real.

• …you habitually make strange noises in your throat because you “can’t help it”, even though it annoys everyone around you.

• …you wonder how many more songs the praise & worship team plans on singing or how much longer the pastor is going to speak and you voice your frustrations over these concerns with everyone around you (loudly).

• …you mimic others’ actions and speech like a parrot.

• …being kissed on the lips is out of the question.

• …getting your hair cut or brushing your teeth is almost painful and usually involves whining and/or crying.

• …you have to go to the bathroom and your mom gives you instructions.  She tells you to pull down your pants and underwear, lift the toilet seat, go pee, flush the toilet, and then pull your underwear and pants back up.  You then stand in the bathroom so long trying to remember what she said to do first that you pee your pants.  (For Jeremiah, following simple directions means giving him only one or maybe two tasks to complete at a time.)

• …you hold your pencil with two hands to keep it steady.  (Jeremiah’s fine motor skills are very poor.)

• …you remember that your mom promised you a Slurpee on the way home from the store (and you remind her often), but you can’t seem to remember how to put your underwear on and that the little pocket goes in the front.

• …the doctor looks in your ears during a check-up and tells you he sees a little birdie in each one.  Then you go around all day telling everyone you have a birdie in your ear and then get upset because he won’t come out so you can see him.

• …the doctor tells you to count backwards from 10 and you turn around on the exam table and start counting.

• ...your mom tells you that dinner will be ready in two minutes.  After thirty seconds, you scream, “Is it almost done yet?”  You keep screaming this until dinner really is done.