Ah, I see! I can't see why your mother would have you do that when it really wasn't your cat. I could see perhaps having you feed it since you were a child, but just cleaning it's litter box?? (Not judging your step-mom btw, I just don't know the relationship between you two, and you don't have to share!) Still - I'm sorry you had a bad experience with the cat, it's never easy when a pet doesn't want to be loving, especially if it was how they were found/raised by someone else before you. I just looked up the breed Kai is, cause I get quite foggy-brained often, and I can totally see how Kai is a perfect match for your family even more. My one pup has anxiety, so he tends to always hide by me, he also does the nudge to me when he wants me to go first lol
That is actually one of my fears! I also have a fear of since my anxiety amps up with the drivers around me -- cause you never know what they're planning to do/if they're paying attention.. and how I'd react to a situation like that. I just don't want to accidentally hurt anyone, myself, or be hurt by another. I never learned to drive, and I have tried countless times to work myself up to do it, but always fail. I'm glad I'm not alone in it, it's something I'm quite self-conscious about.
Ohhh boy, don't get me started on paw injuries! We always gotta (gently) wrestle our pups to clean them, and make sure there's nothing stuck in their paw/they're not bleeding badly, or in need of stitches. Our pup Kipper is a black lab, and does not like to have his paws examined. Tickled? He loves it, anything else and he will continue to pull 'em away. He also tends to have the habit of ripping things open, or eating things if he's sneaky enough. We've gotten better at figuring what he likes to get into, and putting it more out of reach. Dog beds are extremely hard to find for him/give him because he will just eat them. (We make sure he doesn't get clogged up once we find out). We just allow him on the furniture, as with our other pets, since dog beds aren't doable, we tried to teach him that those things aren't for eating, but I'm pretty sure he's got "selective hearing".
I woke up at 5 AM myself, actually. It was more so due to our fur babies, since they HATE thunderstorms, and we happened to have one earlier in the morning. So many pounds of whimpering, shaky fluffballs jumping on the bed/us was an interesting way to start the day. I have a doctors appointment today for a mammogram -- they're not seeing anyone unless emergency, but when I explained what's been going on/what I found during a self-exam, they wanted to see me the next day. I can relate to your middle lol I wake up in the middle of the night sometimes, and HATE being alone too, I tend to wake the boyfriend up for a bit until I can ease myself back to sleep. (Thankfully he's very understanding of that). I hope you're able to get some shuteye in though!