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Thursday, 10 July 2014

I Don't Believe This Catster Story

There is an article on Catster about a young woman, Brielle Pritchard and her rescue cat, Tanner, a pale ginger tabby - a very solid looking cat.

The gist of the story is that this young woman has lots of illnesses and is helped by Tanner to deal with her difficult life. A good story and one that applies to many people in fact. Jo Singer wrote an article today about that subject.

What I think is unbelievable is the number and gravity of this young woman's illnesses.  I'm not saying that I'm right in not believing the long list I am just saying that for me it looks unbelievable.
"I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia that year, just before I graduated high school as co-valedictorian"
This young woman suffers from the following illnesses:
  • depression
  • anxiety
  • Asperger's syndrome
  • fibromyalgia
  • multiple sclerosis
Tanner has been through all her illnesses and he lies with her in bed, greets her at the door when she gets home from two jobs (yes that is two jobs) and cuddles her under the blankets.  She says that her cat lies on her sore spots and purrs the pain away.  That sounds great and are like that.

I am sorry I don't believe the number of illnesses. The best part of the story is that she worked for a rescue center and adopted Tanner from the same center. Well done on that. If I am correct I wonder if this is another example of a person getting some celebrity vicariously via her cat.
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3 comments:

  1. Angel Pets12 July 2014 at 12:58

    Hi Michael,

    Depression, anxiety, and Fibromyalgia all are common in folks who have MS. Folks with Lyme Disease also frequently have these conditions as well. I know this from personal experience myself, and also know that these conditions also exist in folks with MS- since I have many close friends who have this very debilitating illness.

    I think you are being just a tad skeptical about this Michael. I understand why we can doubt peoples' motives- we all have been burned- but in this case I completely believe this young woman's story and is only attesting to the support her kitty is giving her. This list of accompanying conditions in MS seems logical to me.

    Additonally, these conditions are not choosy- about the people they strike. People with Aspergers can get MS- there is nothing illogical about it at all.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Michael Broad LLB, ARPS12 July 2014 at 15:44

      Thank you. I know I am being a bit naughty and I sort of realised that there might be a common cause. It just looked wrong to me.

      Delete
    2. Brielle Pritchard16 December 2015 at 23:56

      Hi Michael,

      I can assure you I have no fame to speak of nor do I want any. Just because I have accomplished a lot despite having these illnesses, doesn't mean I'm making it up. Who does that?

      I couldn't give the valedictorian speech at graduation due to my anxiety and Asperger's, I worked two jobs (student jobs, mind you, so about 25 hrs a wk min wage) because I couldn't get disability and found staff on campus willing to work around my needs. I worked as a student office assistant and sat down for 90% of my shifts. I got shuttled to classes or had my friends assist me.

      Life doesn't stop when you're chronically ill. A lot of us power through it because we have to in order to live. College textbooks were not free. Neither is the cat food, litter, and vet bills for Tanner and food and clothing for myself.

      So yeah I may have done well for myself (I graduated Magna Cum Laude with no student debt, too), I'm an overachiever, but I fought these illnesses for all of it.

      Delete

Your comments are always welcome.