A moral dilemma narrowly averted

[eveglass]

Tonight I hosted a session of D&D. As people were on the verge of leaving, around 12:15 a.m., Tony asked, "Why do I hear meowing?" I shrugged, figuring it was a cat in the building somewhere. When we opened the door, it turned out "somewhere" was right in front of my door. A beautiful dapple-furred cat was sitting, a little fearfully, right outside my apartment.

Now, I thought I'd seen this cat once before, escaped from one of the apartments on the two floors above mine. But back then, there had been people frantically looking for her. This time, all the doors were closed. I knocked on the superintendent's door but it was past midnight and no one answered, and I don't have their phone number.

Here's where the moral dilemma part comes in: I'm exceedingly allergic to cats. Even with an extra-strength, 24-hour antihistamine, I can last maybe a few hours around a cat like this one before I can't breathe. So I now had a choice: take in the cat, succumb to asthma for a few days, and try to find her owners in the morning, or cruelly leave her to her own devices in the hallways of the building and chance the possibility that she'd escape outside.

While Kyn was watching her, I decided to make one last sweep of the building and heard music coming from one of the upstairs apartments. On the theory that at the very least they might not be allergic to cats and be willing to take her in for the night, I knocked on the door. No answer. Knocked again, and a woman about my age opened. "Have you lost a cat?" I asked. Her eyes grew wide and you could see the dawning realization that her cat had escaped. She raced downstairs after me, and sure enough, it was hers.

So now the cat is back with her mommy, and I don't need to worry about choosing between cruelty and my own health. (I can already feel myself wheezing, though probably some of that is psychosomatic.) And now I need to calm myself down enough to go to bed. Fun times, fun times.

Comments

[dipping_sauce]

Would it still set your allergies off even if you locked the cat in the bathroom?

At least now you know where kitty lives so you can just take her home if/when it happens again.

[eveglass.livejournal.com]

It's not so much that it would set off my allergies if it was in a different room (though it might), but more a matter that I couldn't pick her up, I couldn't feed her, and -- something that Marc pointed out to me when I called him -- I have no litter, so it would probably pee on my furniture. And that would *definitely* set off my allergies for a while.

I think things worked out in the best possible way, frankly. And thank goodness Kyn and Tony were there to give me moral support.

[technopixelcath.livejournal.com]

It is to your credit that you felt compelled to help the cat but considering your severe reaction to a cat, I think it would have been stupid if you had done so.

I am happy that you have found the owner after all :) but seriously: will you really risk asthma? I hear people can die of that condition !?

Please stay safe and trust in the cats instinct to keep themselves the same way! :p

[eveglass.livejournal.com]

I've been allergic to cats since puberty, and had asthma since I was 19 or so. Yes, it would have sucked, but it wouldn't have killed me, not having a cat in a single room for a single night. I have my medications, and I probably would have called over one of my non-allergic friends (probably Ian) in the morning so that he could go door-to-door for me and find the cat's owners. (And hopefully help me clean up whatever room the cat had been in.)

Thank you for thinking about me, though. It means a lot that people have got my back on stuff like this.