Announcing a new family member....

It has been a long time since I wrote much. I have been transitioning into a new job, paying too much attention to political battles and suffering the ups and downs of my young adult children. As much as I know that I cannot change their perspective on life, I still suffer when they do and worry about them when they are unhappy.
On a much simpler level, I decided after much discussion to adopt a new cat. I was hoping that Pat would feel less lonely with a companion and “lick-shave” its fur less.

On a recent Sunday, both of my boys came home for the opportunity to accompany me to a shelter to pick out a new buddy for Pat. We chose a shelter on the basis of (1) proximity and (2) hours of operation. When we arrived, the first clue to the place was the locked door and the requirement that you ring a bell to be let in by an attendant. As soon as you enter, you must surrender your car keys and identification. Why? Because they had a problem with people stealing pets! Then we looked around and there were many rooms of cats. It was very sad. We thought that perhaps we might want a kitten. We thought that Pat would accept a kitten more readily than an adult cat. But after seeing room after room of adult cats, we decided that we would adopt an adult. Although some of the cats seemed immediately unsuitable, we rapidly got to the point of overload. The only thing that could narrow down our search was that Pat seemed to get along better with males than females, so we decided on an adult neutered male. Oddly enough (not really!), we found a black and white kitty that was friendly and reminded us of Wiskerz. One cat was immediately rejected after it sunk its teeth HARD into my arm. I still have the scabs to remind me!

Next came the APPLICATION. The volunteer who showed us around told us that if we could provide references that were available right away who would vouch for us, then we could take the cat home today. We called friends until we located several who were home and available to testify to our suitability to adopt. We turned in the application and a very business-like person told us, “We don’t do same day adoptions.” We told her about our volunteer and she replied, “That was just a kennel tech – they were wrong, we don’t do same day adoptions.” My sons were disappointed and indignant that the shelter would even doubt that I was acceptable to provide a home for one of their animals. The woman wouldn’t budge. Then she handed us a list of shelters that might have lower standards and just might let us adopt an animal today. We found one on the list and drove over there. This shelter had a lot fewer cats and they had sunnier, nicer quarters for their pets. We found another black and white kitty that seemed to choose us right away. Mr. Boots is his name and he is 3 ½ years old. He is the sweetest cat you could possibly imagine. We filled out a short application and brought him home.

One week later…. We love Mr. Boots and he is gleefully settling into his new home. Pat is taking a little longer to find him sweet – there has been hissing. But I think Mr. Boots playful good nature is going to win Pat over … any day now!


The first shelter has called me once to ask me if I still want Blackie. They are holding him for me. My heart is torn – I hate to think of him having to live out his days there. After the way they made us feel, I am not surprised that they have so many cats that live there for years and years. I do understand that they are trying to protect their animals from abuse but …it’s not a perfect world out there.