My dad has always despised cats, but nobody knows why. Ever since I was born, I have had a cat in the house and I now cannot imagine a home without one. My mom, my brother, and I have always loved them. They don’t bother people; they don’t need that much attention. They are just one of the best animals to have around. But my dad doesn’t seem to agree. Why? I have asked him over and over again the same question “Dad, why do you hate cats?” and each and every time he replies with the same response, “I just do”. I have a cat in the house now and my dad can’t seem to even tolerate him for me and my family’s sake. For the sake of peace, I need my father to accept my cat.

            I love my cat. I fell in love with him the first moment I laid eyes on him at the animal shelter. The bulky black and yellow eyes, the peculiar double paws, the soft white fur; all confined in that cold metal cage. It was hard to turn him away. Two amazing years with him now, and I still have to lock him up whenever my dad is home. Just like when I first saw him at the animal shelter. He can’t just roam around the house like a free cat. He looks enslaved again, like nobody loves or wants him. Whenever my dad is not home he can play around the house and go wherever he wants. But when I hear the sound of my dad’s truck or corvette, I have to get the gate, find him, and put him behind the gate in that dark and lonely room. I cry for him. I have no other choice. If I let him out when my dad’s home, who knows what he will do to my precious cat? I see my dad try to let him outside saying, “Go, get out of here!”, but I stop him just in time; just in time before he lets him out and the coyotes find him, just in time before I lose him forever. When I don’t lock him up my dad scares him or kicks at him whenever he sees him hide under the table or behind the couch. My cat is now smart enough to know that the big man with the Dunkin Donuts smell is the guy to stay away from.

I wish my dad can love cast or at least just respect them, so we can live in a diplomatic, peaceful household. He can live with my high-maintenance dog, but not my low-maintenance cat. What happened to him that made him hate the purring and the meowing of one of the most relaxing animals in the world? I want to know the answer to this question; but I don’t think that’s ever going to happen.