I have no difficulty saying straight-out that I prefer the company of my youngest cat - an adorable tortie named Tiffany - to that of ANY mormon that I can think of, with the exception my my husband, who, despite remaining Mormon, has a tremendous number of redeeming qualities!
When I was first inactive, I lived alone, and was battling a (non-fatal) painful chronic disease. There was nothing more pleasant than spending holidays and weekends with my cats and dog--especially at a time when all my neighbors were being forced to go to Mormon meetings, firesides, stupid neighborhood parties, etc. Instead of making me feel bad, and shut out, the shunning actually gave me solitude and inner peace. I had done the right thing in leaving. I got well faster and to a higher level than anyone expected. Pets and laughter, good books, movies, healthy food helped. My dog forced me to take her for walks, and we began with limping to the corner, to hiking 5 miles up the canyon every day. You can talk to your cats and dogs, and they never argue back at you. Unconditional love, on both sides.
I took in an ugly smelly sick thing that someone dumped in my neighborhood. She had Feline Eosinophilic Granuloma Complex and failing kidneys when she found me - the perfect sucker. She would come up to the french door and scratch her claws along the glass making a noise like fingernails on a black board. Her paws left bloody footprints from chewing her granulomas. Her face and breath were awful from the rodent ulcers and yellow plaques growing in her mouth. We called her "Scurvy".
It took me a year of trying new diets and litters till I finally found a combination that made the sores go away. I could not sit down anywhere without BAM there she was in my lap. She'd stand on my side of the bed and call in that "smoker's meow" for me to come to bed so she could sleep on top of me. She sat on the hall rug, staring at the front door whenever I left the house. She cowered whenever she saw my husband, as if he were going to hurt her. Not a good cat really, just broken and needy. But I still hated to see her kidneys finally give out.
I put her down a few weeks ago, only had her for 22 months. Stupid smelly sick cat. My lap is empty.