Tag Archives: adopt

What is A Hero?

A hero does not have to wear a mask and cape or be a firefighter or soldier. According to Google, a hero is “a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities.” I was thinking about that on Thursday when I was volunteering at the SPCA.

I had recently changed jobs and moved into a cat counselor position because the 4-7 shift on Thursdays opened up. Previously, I worked on Mondays or Tuesdays when the shelter was closed but now I have the opportunity to interact with people who are looking to adopt. While I was there, a couple adopted a cat that was about ten years old. I told one of the other volunteers that I thought people who adopt older cats are heroes in my book because they could just as easily adopt a kitten, or young cat, that would be with them for many more years but instead they choose to give a cat (or dog) a loving home to live out their remaining life. That is an attitude that I admire greatly and said that I would love to do that but it is hard because we are already over our one pet limit.

That got us talking about an eleven year old cat named Jezebel that was at the shelter but in a cage by herself instead of in a pod with other cats.

I opened the cage and started petting her and she loved it. She was starving for attention and just seemed so sweet. I looked at her chart which said that she had been there since October 23rd. That was almost four months stuck in a small cage by herself. I asked if anyone knew why she was isolated from other cats but nobody knew for sure. Her chart said she was aggressive with another cat which was why she was surrendered.

I thought maybe it was just one cat that she was aggressive toward and maybe that particular cat was the problem and not her. “Did anyone try to put her in a pod with other cats before isolating her?” I asked.

Nobody knew so I went to the adoption office and asked them but they did not have specific records and it sounded like they just assumed she was an aggressive cat and stuck her in a box by herself. I feel bad for her and part of me wants to go back and adopt her but another part of me worries that we might be bringing trouble into our home.

What do you think? Any advice for me?

Update: My wife and I went to see Jezebel Saturday afternoon. She let me hold her for a long time while I listened to an employee tell me that she was the aggressor. I decided to put her to the test and walked over to a cage with a cat that wasn’t sleeping. The two cats sniffed each other for a few seconds and then Jesebel let loose with a few rapid-fire whaps at the unsuspecting kitty. That pretty much ended her chance of coming home with us which is really too bad because she is such a friendly cat otherwise.

Shelter Cats on National Cat Day

32 Replies

Since today is National Cat Day, a day to raise awareness of homeless pets, I thought I would share some recent pictures I took while volunteering at a local SPCA in Largo, Florida. Most of these cats are very friendly and still available for adoption. If you don’t live near me, I’m sure your local shelter has plenty of cats that would love to share your home with you.

As you can see, many cats need a home and the pictures shown here are perhaps five to ten percent of the shelter’s total.

Lately, my wife and I have considered adopting a female cat to help keep our boys in line but we are currently two cats over our legal limit so I don’t know what will happen. If we do decide to adopt, one possibility is the cat shown below. Forgive the quality but I couldn’t get a decent photo of her face because of low light and too much movement.

This girl came to me as soon as I walked in. She got on my lap and purred up a storm. I was a bit concerned because she was practically skin and bones. When one of the shelter employees saw this she said, “Wow, Mama Girl is coming out of her shell.” This surprised me for two reasons. First, out of several cats in the pod, this one seemed the most outgoing and affectionate. Second, I thought she was still a kitten. How could she be a mother? I was told she was about a year old and had already had a litter of kittens.

I expressed my concern about her weight and the employee said she would make a note of it and watch her. If she didn’t improve they might have to remove her from the pod and isolate her. I hoped that wouldn’t happen but sometimes a bully cat can keep another cat from eating. She brought her a container of wet food and asked me to watch and make sure nobody took it from her, which I did. I then noticed a sore on her front leg which I also mentioned.

I will keep on eye on her for as long as she is there. Hopefully she will gain a little weight. Perhaps if I bring her home Chris could show her how to eat for weight gain.

Meet Finnegan

35 Replies

After her beloved cat, Pumpkin, died, my mother-in-law decided to open her home to another cat in need. This is Finnegan.

He is another ginger boy like Pumpkin but he is also not like Pumpkin. Just like all cats, he has his own personality.

I expected him to be shy around strangers and thought I would have to go look for him under the bed but I didn’t. Instead he came out to greet us. He is a very sociable cat but he is not a lap cat, at least not now. Perhaps when he is more comfortable he will be.

We visited twice since she adopted him. The second time I found him napping on the bed so he certainly feels right at home.

He is also not shy about blocking the doorway.

We brought him one of Floki’s mice to play with. I bought a bag of ten mice and still had a few left so we thought he might want one. He was mildly interested for about five seconds and then not so much.

Finnegan, or Finn for short, got his name because he looks like an Irish redhead. He is about three years old and was once a stray that was brought in after someone alerted the organization that he appeared injured or “beat up.” I don’t know all the details but he is far too friendly to be feral.

Another interesting thing is that he has no white on him anywhere. The tip of his tail is very light but not quite white. I don’t recall seeing a ginger cat with no white. I wonder how common that is? What do you think about Finn or about ginger cats with no white?

Kitten Season

24 Replies

I saw these kittens at my local PetSmart on Thursday. It’s amazing how many need homes. The funny thing is, I was most attracted to the only cat that wasn’t a kitten. She is a Russian Blue with no age listed. Too bad I am already over my cat limit.

These kittens are at the PetSmart in Largo, Florida if anyone is interested.

Good Home Needed

19 Replies

My sister-in-law, Felice, saw my post about the cat I saw at Petsmart. My wife saw it too and two days later we were heading to Petsmart to adopt her. When we got there the cat was gone, which was just as well because we are not in a position to adopt another cat since we are already over our limit and because we are planning to move sometime this year.

Felice thought we were looking for a kitten and told us this little fellow was available.

Another Siamese cat was tempting but we said no and the cat went to another family.

Fast forward a couple of days and we hear that he was returned but the details were sketchy at first. I still don’t know all the details but I heard that they let their kids give him a bubble bath and I think he was mistreated in other ways too. They gave him back because he kept hissing at them. Well, duh!

This cat, named Dublin, needs a home. He is located in Pasco County, Florida, which is northwest of Tampa. I posted an appeal on Facebook and Twitter and got a lot of response but none from somebody close enough.

I received more details today in an email from Felice:

Dublin is a year old and a little purr bucket. He has been fixed, tested and had all his vaccines.

A woman from Canada had been feeding him in her trailer park where she is a snowbird. She came in to get him fixed but was going to leave him in the park when she left for 6 months.

We told her that would not be right because he had come to depend on her and so we took him in.

We are looking for a loving, forever home and to be a strictly indoor cat. Anyone interested would have to be able to provide their animal hospital’s phone number because we will be checking to make sure they take care of pets they have and we might even be delivering him to their home.

The last home he was at was horrible so we are not interested in a repeat of this. Many thanks.

I know it is a long shot posting this here but if anyone is seriously interested in Dublin, please let me know.

Cat at Petsmart Desperate for Attention

19 Replies

I bought cat litter this morning at Petsmart and couldn’t help but check out the cats in their adoption center. I had no intention of adopting a cat today but I feel bad that they are stuck in small cages so I thought they might like a little attention. I could not have imagined how desperate one of the cats there was for that attention.

She is an 11-month-old female and she really needs a home. The one-year-old male next to her was also needing attention but he was not as obvious about it.

This cat is at the North Clearwater, Florida location. If anyone is in the area and is looking for a pet, I think she would be a great choice. If you know someone in the Tampa Bay area that might be interested, please share.

Photo Friday: Abbey and Alex

15 Replies

Today I want to do something a little different and post a photo from the past, well before Chris was born. I actually took this picture on my birthday, July 9, 2005.

This was the first picture I could find of our two cats, Abbey and Alex, so I think we had just adopted them. Back then Abbey was called Stirling and Alex was called Sloan. We actually adopted Alex but we couldn’t take him and leave his sister behind so we took her too, which was an excellent decision. While we had Alex out of the cage at the PetSmart shelter, Abbey pooped and left it unburied. It was the stinkiest poop we ever smelled and it seemed to remain that stinky throughout her life. Also, her habit of not burying her stinky poops remained too.

Here is Abbey trying to figure out how to get at the fish while Alex looks on.

Black Cat Day

25 Replies

Today is Black Cat Day and as I write this, my black cat, Puck, is on my lap being very “kneedy.” We celebrate black cats today because they need our help. They are often overlooked at shelters because of their color or because people associate them with evil or bad luck.

After adopting two black cats, I can assure you that is nonsense. Since having Puck, and before him, Flash, most of my “bad luck” was a result of my own stupidity. Both of our black cat’s have been very sweet, and a little shy too, but they were, and are, well-behaved and wonderful to have around.

If we didn’t adopt Puck, Chris would not have a best friend.

If you are looking to adopt a cat, today would be a great day to go to your local animal shelter and give a loving black cat a good home.

Meet Floki, Our Newest Addition

41 Replies

I felt a little bad Sunday after we went up to my sister-in-law’s vet’s office to look at kittens that needed a home and then left without one (If you didn’t read my last post you can find it here). Rose felt bad too and called her sister and asked about seeing the second male Siamese kitten.

The two cats were being fostered and Felice chose the one she thought was more friendly and brought that one in to be fixed. Rose wanted to see the other one so the foster parent agreed to meet us with the other kitten at the animal hospital, where the first kitten was still staying,

When she arrived, Felice put a ribbon around the neck of the fixed cat so we wouldn’t confuse them and then took both kittens out. The big gold cat was there to greet us again and was a little bit like Baby Huey.

After checking out both kittens, Rose came to realize that the first kitten we saw was the better choice and he was not sickly like she first thought. It was like she was seeing him for the first time and was convinced he was the one, so we put him in the carrier and headed home after briefly considering taking his brother too. Of course, we knew we were pushing the limit with four cats, especially since we are only allowed two.

On the way out we had to pass by this scene, which was very hard to do.
Kittens in cage

We were happy to hear that this girl’s potential adopter is not as bad as we thought. While she will be an outside cat, we were told that she will be living on a farm with other outside cats that are well taken care of. Apparently, there is a part of the barn that is set up for them. I sometimes think Frankie might be happier living in a place like that where he can come and go as he pleases. I then see him lying upside-down on our bed and I think maybe not.

The kitten cried almost all the way home, and it was a long trip. I heard Siamese cats are very vocal and this confirms it.

I thought introducing a kitten would be less stressful for our cats because kittens are not a threat. I noticed when we introduced Puck, a kitten, Chris was happy to have him but when we got Frankie, an adult cat, Chris was not happy about that.

This time Chris and Puck did a little growling at the kitten but were mostly tolerant. Frankie, however, wanted the kitten gone. He spent his time hissing at him and trying to whack him. Fortunately, the kitten was small enough to get into places where Frankie couldn’t reach him.

Floki and Chris

I wanted to tell the story in one post but preparing the pictures and videos is time-consuming, and I have very little spare time these days. I will finish this tomorrow, hopefully. I will say that as I write this, Frankie is mostly over being mean to the kitten but he is still jealous and needs attention.

We Came, We Saw, We Left With No Kitten

21 Replies

Yesterday, we went to visit my sister-in-law and her husband, Felice and Jeff, for the fourth of July, even though it was the third. After we settled in for a bit and met the little gold kitten that they decided to adopt, we took a short ride to the vet’s office where Felice works. That is where the two cats were that needed a home.

We first went to an examination room that held the female kitten that needed a home. Her two brothers were in there also and all three of them were very cute and playful. The female had unique markings. She had sprinkles of gold but she wasn’t technically a Calico or Tortie. I don’t know exactly how that works but Felice says in both cases they have black patches, which this kitten doesn’t have. Wikipedia does mention a “Tortie-Tabby” or “Torbie” which is what this kitten might be.

Is she a “Torbie?”

Next we visited the Siamese kitten. This one was a bit shy at first but warmed up very quickly and had a nice loud purr. Rose was a bit disappointed in him for some reason. She said he looked sickly and she noticed he wasn’t the same kitten that she saw in the photograph. I didn’t think he was sickly. In fact, he seemed somewhat energetic.

I didn’t know this then but there were actually two Siamese kittens that needed a home. They were brothers that were left in a carrier at Wal-Mart on Memorial Day when they were about six weeks old. Also in the carrier were three other kittens from a different litter that were about eight weeks old. Felice picked the one that seemed the friendliest and brought it to her work to have him fixed, just in case we decided to take him home.

After I shot the above video, we put the kitten on a table where a very overweight gold cat with bent whiskers was hanging out looking for attention.

This cat was extremely friendly and we considered adopting him but Felice said he likes kittens but he does not get along with adult cats. We joked that he eats them, which was not very nice (even though we laughed).

We decided to think about it and we went back to Felice’s house and talked while her husband, Jeff, made his famous chicken barbecue.

While we were waiting, the gold kitten was out playing and he really seemed to take to me. I was petting his belly and he was “fighting” my hand. He then lied on my lap and purred and purred and purred. I was thinking about what a couple of commentators said on my last post. They said “let the kitten choose you,” or something similar. It seemed this kitten was choosing us but Felice and Jeff already chose to adopt him and wouldn’t give him up. In truth, I couldn’t blame them.

Rose decided she didn’t want to settle for a kitten she wasn’t sure about and I suggested that we go back and look at them both one more time. It was agreed that we would do that but when it was time to go, Rose’s mom was not feeling good and wanted to go home right away so she could “take a pill.” So that was the end of that, but we did pay the $60 for the kitten’s vet bill. it was the least we could do for leaving without a kitten.

If you have made it this far, I will tell you there is more to this story, so check back again soon.

Bad Cat Chris

The Baddest Cat You'll Ever Love