SkySoStarry
January 31st, 2008, 10:13 PM
I did not need another cat, but two weeks ago I somehow ended up scanning profiles on Petfinder of cats in my local shelter, and I came across a poor soul that had been dumped by his owners because they were 'moving.' The only info they had posted was that he was 10 years old, and they showed a pic of a brown tabby, which is the cat that always hits be harder than others due to my favorite childhood cat. Knowing I had no buisness at all even thinking about getting another cat, I somehow found myself at the shelter the next day.
I quickly found the cat in the pic, and with a brief check, I figured out that the cat was really a female. Looking for other brown tabbies that might have been mixed up, I spotted a patch of brown sticking out of a hidey hole in a cat condo thing. Having already fallen in love with the female cat, I decided to give the other cat a chance anyway, and I pried him out of the hidey hole. I found a brown tabby boy, owl-eyed and scared to death. He didn't want to come out of hiding, but he never bit or scratched me.
Eventually I went up front to ask about the cats. The usual boss of that building was not there that day, and hadn't been for a few days, which is how the paperwork got all messed up. It turned out that the cat in the picture (the first one I found) was a young female that had been brought in as a stray, and the second one (the hiding male) was the 10 year old one.
I decided that I would risk talking to my dad about getting one of them, and I agonized over which one to get, knowing that the other one would surely be PTS. (It is a very high kill shelter, and it always has cute siamese kittens and whatnot, so the plain adults are always overlooked.) Over dinner, I delicately brought the idea up to my dad, and as expected, he was resistant, but wouldn't give me a straight answer, which is actually good. To make a longish story shorter, my dad later reluctantly agreed to let me adopt one.
I still hadn't decided, but when I called the next day, I learned that the female had been PTS that morning. :( I had to take my sis with me so that she could sign the paperwork because I am not 18, and I brought home Mr. Scully that afternoon.
He went to the vet the next day, and he turns out he has a heart murmr, very high heart rate, and had recently lost a lot of weight (he refused to eat the first few days, and I suspect he didn't eat while he was at the shelter). It also turns out that he was already neutered and front paw declawed (poor guy! :( ). He got bloodwork sent off, and it came back clean. He was just scared to death- he was shaking the entire time, and pee'ed himself on the way there.
Ok, I realize this is really long, so I will skip right to the present.
He has relaxed considerably, and now sleeps in bed with me (right on top of my chest, actually!) every single night, without fail. He eats, but he has bad teeth, so he only can eat wet food. He will be getting a dental in about a week, and that should help a lot. He is the sweetest, most loving cat! He is such a character. :) I have only had him two weeks (and he spent the first week or so hiding under my bed or in a dog crate so that I could moniter his food intake) but I am so in love.
This poor little guy probably spent his first 10 years in the same place, and suddenly he found himself dumped off at a rural high kill shelter, surrounded by strange cats, sights, sounds, and people, but he will now spend the rest of his life with me, being as pampered as I can possibly make him. :)
Sorry, no pics right now. My camera went away, and I have yet to get a new one. I am going to try to borrow my moms camera when I get a chance to.
Best wishes to all, and power to the senior pets! :)
I quickly found the cat in the pic, and with a brief check, I figured out that the cat was really a female. Looking for other brown tabbies that might have been mixed up, I spotted a patch of brown sticking out of a hidey hole in a cat condo thing. Having already fallen in love with the female cat, I decided to give the other cat a chance anyway, and I pried him out of the hidey hole. I found a brown tabby boy, owl-eyed and scared to death. He didn't want to come out of hiding, but he never bit or scratched me.
Eventually I went up front to ask about the cats. The usual boss of that building was not there that day, and hadn't been for a few days, which is how the paperwork got all messed up. It turned out that the cat in the picture (the first one I found) was a young female that had been brought in as a stray, and the second one (the hiding male) was the 10 year old one.
I decided that I would risk talking to my dad about getting one of them, and I agonized over which one to get, knowing that the other one would surely be PTS. (It is a very high kill shelter, and it always has cute siamese kittens and whatnot, so the plain adults are always overlooked.) Over dinner, I delicately brought the idea up to my dad, and as expected, he was resistant, but wouldn't give me a straight answer, which is actually good. To make a longish story shorter, my dad later reluctantly agreed to let me adopt one.
I still hadn't decided, but when I called the next day, I learned that the female had been PTS that morning. :( I had to take my sis with me so that she could sign the paperwork because I am not 18, and I brought home Mr. Scully that afternoon.
He went to the vet the next day, and he turns out he has a heart murmr, very high heart rate, and had recently lost a lot of weight (he refused to eat the first few days, and I suspect he didn't eat while he was at the shelter). It also turns out that he was already neutered and front paw declawed (poor guy! :( ). He got bloodwork sent off, and it came back clean. He was just scared to death- he was shaking the entire time, and pee'ed himself on the way there.
Ok, I realize this is really long, so I will skip right to the present.
He has relaxed considerably, and now sleeps in bed with me (right on top of my chest, actually!) every single night, without fail. He eats, but he has bad teeth, so he only can eat wet food. He will be getting a dental in about a week, and that should help a lot. He is the sweetest, most loving cat! He is such a character. :) I have only had him two weeks (and he spent the first week or so hiding under my bed or in a dog crate so that I could moniter his food intake) but I am so in love.
This poor little guy probably spent his first 10 years in the same place, and suddenly he found himself dumped off at a rural high kill shelter, surrounded by strange cats, sights, sounds, and people, but he will now spend the rest of his life with me, being as pampered as I can possibly make him. :)
Sorry, no pics right now. My camera went away, and I have yet to get a new one. I am going to try to borrow my moms camera when I get a chance to.
Best wishes to all, and power to the senior pets! :)