"What do you think, Honey?"
"I think they're cool, Baby. I want them."
"All three?"
"Three's a bit much, I know..."
(yes, this is how the Wife and I really do talk to each other , 'Baby' this 'Honey' that.)
We wander around a bit more and get approached by Shelter gal #1. Turns out her name is Shelly. Shelly talks to us about deaf cats, and how they are so hard to place. She tells us... everybody walks through that door, sees the three brothers, sees the "DEAF" warning and moves on.
It happens every time. Nobody wants a Special Needs pet.
I tell her there no Special Needs involved. These are cats like any other. They need nothing special, just a little consideration.
She agrees, and goes on about other folks are afraid they got health defects and whatever, but such is just not the case.
Wife tells her those are the ones that I picked, if only there wasn't three of them. Then she turns to me and says, "Maybe they'll split them up, and we take the two deaf ones?"
"Baby, you sure? If you ain't cool with it, I won't do it."
"Yeah, Honey. It's a special case, and I saw how your eyes light up when you held them. "
Shelly gets all excited now... "Really? Oh my, this is a first. I saw how you took to each other. Nobody else could do that with them."
But what about the third?
No problem. A pure white cat gets adopted quick. Shelly says she can place him. It was the two blue-eyeds that will end up, well, you know... It happens all the time (about once every month or two, according to her.)
This was late Saturday afternoon, and the shelter was closing for the weekend, so I told Shelly we would talk it over some more, and to look for me Monday.
I had to make sure that the Wife was totally on board, and wanted to give her time to dream up any reservations.
Instead, she got more with it and on Sunday I was busy setting up the new kids' transition room, getting more excited with every passing minute...
A lot of people, stupid people that is, do not take the time to transition a cat to new surroundings and smells. They usually end up with a frightened, confused and traumatised beast who hides in corners and closets for several days growling and hissing, pissing on everything... and they think the cat is defective. Kinda like this uninformed couple did.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
A "large breed" dog carrier works, too, if you're getting them privately and/or don't have a spare room-- my folks do that with all their barn kitten adoptions. Kits are kept in the nice big box most of the time, gentled down, they slowly add bedding if folks bring it, folks borrow the dog-box until the kittens settle in.
(End up with orphaned kittens nearly every year, so it's down to a science.)
that'll work, too. its just important that they have a controlled space where they feel secure. and let them extend the boundry when they are ready.
i have a mostly empty spare room. i put a few empty boxes in there for hiding, plus a wire kennel. was going to keep them in the kennel the first day, and then open the door and let them wander/retreat at will for a few days before extending them to the rest of the house.
also, they would need to get acustomed the cat that already lives here.
That video hurt my head. Do they not realize that poor cat feels cornered?
hi vas.
do you keep barn cats,too?
I do. My gray cat is a farm cat. He was one the one we kept, after we took his surviving aunt and sisters to the shelter They were the last generations of cats at the farm.
My late father-in-law decided that he didn't want cats in the farm anymore so he started shooting them at will. He shot my husband's cat to death because she got into a fight with another cat and was too tame to run away. His untrained idiot beagles keeps away any potential additions to the farm cat herd away. This was totally fucking unnecessary because Loki used to feed cheap cat food them without any issue, and the foxes used to keep the population in check. Then people at the farm wonder why there's rat infestations at the farm that costs thousands of dollars to keep in check.
Only feral cats seem to visit the dome (which is five minutes away from the farm by car.) They are skittish and wary of humans, so we haven't really connected with too any of them.
Our other cats include:
*A deaf and white blue-eyed beauty who we adopted at the respectable age of six when her owner's children ALL became allergic to her. Nothing worse than watching three boys ranging from six to thirteen crying over their beloved cat being taken away. She immediately took a shine to Loki and is definitely daddy's girl.
*An fluffy orange cat that we have been babysitting for the last three years. He has chronic urinary problems, and anxiety issues, so as a result he has a lot of trouble peeing in the box. He tries our patience, but he is very sweet.
*A huge orange tabby who was obviously an abandoned house cat, quite literally followed me to the dome home. His equally tame brother showed up at my old print shop and was taken to the shelter prior to his arrival. His other brother was run over by a car, before we could find him a place to stay. My husband initially wanted to take him to the shelter, but he was insanely bright, and it was very obvious the previous owner had trained him to do clever tricks, so we kept him. There is nothing funnier than a cart that can stand and sit on command, as well as doing areal flips when playing with a teaser.
the fluffy orange one: it may not be urinary problmes, but anxiety ones, that cause the peeing outside the box.
my guess is that he was from a one cat home, and doesnt socialize well with others.
the peeing is his way of letting the others know of his presence and dominance.
its passive agressive behavior. put him in a kennel cage with his own box, and he will use it. his own space is important to him, and he cant share a home with other cats and still be happy.
Post a Comment