Am I setting myself up again???
Am I setting myself up for another heartbreaking failure, or will it work out??? I went to the MHS Rochester Hills shelter yesterday to look at what they have. Getting another pet is a big decision and I want to explore all my options before getting an animal, so I went to two different places yesterday...first to the Michigan Humane Society, and then to a foster home for a no-kill cat rescue organisation. When I walked into the kitty room at the MHS there were maybe 40 or so cats, most of them were sleeping, some were playing, one was crying. I looked at every single cat...but there was this one little cry that I kept ignoring. I looked at the crying cat and saw that she was a 2 year old female all-black cat (black cats are, for some reason, my last choice based on looks), but after ignoring this crying kitty and seeing every other cat, I knelt down to her cage (her cage was one on the floor-level) and put my hand up to the bars and her motor box kicked on, she stopped crying and started rubbing back and fourth against the bars trying to "pet" me. I sat down on the floor and stuck my hand in her cage and pet her for a LONG time. I read a bit of her cage card bio, that said she's a 2 year old stray named "Kelly". I felt too worried about taking home a 2 year old cat for Minion, so I got up and started looking at the younger cats again...she started crying again :(
Several people walked in the cat room at various times during my visit but Kelly kept her eyes on me. She just kept crying and watching me try to make friends with the other younger kitties. After finally not having any connection with any of the younger cats, I started petting Kelly again and she was soooo happy. She purred and purred. It broke my heart. I get teary eyed just thinking about her. MHS is a VERY high kill shelter. She is the oldest in the room (that I saw anyway) and she is black, and the shelter employee said that black cats get overlooked often.
Anyway, I broke down and took Kelly's paperwork to the front desk and asked to hold her. I filled out an application, got approved, and then they took Kelly out, handed her to me, and we walked to the "acclamation room". It was a very large room with lots of benches and seats and lots of stuff to explore, but Kelly plopped down on my lap, motor box going a zillion mph, and layed down on my lap for about 20 minutes, until it was time for me to go. She didn't have any desire to explore the room, or jump off my lap. She was so charming and she had a beautiful little spirit. Not only that, but she will be the first cat "pulled" when they are out of cage space :(
So now I am considering inviting a 2 year old cat into my home...I imagine that will be even more difficult then a 1 year old cat. I just wish I could speak cat language and find out if Kelly would like to live with two big dogs and an adult cat and be an indoor kitty for the rest of her life. I wish I knew what the best thing to do is.
Donna I still want to see the kitties at your shelter on Saturday, but if I don't see anything that jumps out at me, I may drive right to the MHS shelter and pick up my new girl and see how things go. I do believe in fate, and Kelly was VERY vocally trying to get me to take her out of that cage. I hope that if it is not meant to be with Kelly and Minion, that Kelly will be adopted by a loving family and I find the right cat as a match for Min.
It would be nice if it were as easy to introduce cats as it is to introduce dogs :)
Well I got a kitten...and Kelly is getting a home!
I went with Donna to the shelter she works at and I picked out the cutest little bundle of black & white fluff :) She's a tuxie girl with cute markings and a GREAT, loving, cuddly temperment. I adopted her but can't get her until Monday because she has to be spayed. It was bitter sweet, being that I fell in love with Kelly. I called the MHS when I got home just to see how Kelly is doing, and she got adopted today, her new owners pick her up on Monday :) So all is good. I will miss Kelly, but it was not meant to be. I am glad someone else was able to see what a beautiful spirit Kelly had. She really was a precious girl.
So we get our new kitten soon :) I'll take pics when I get her. She's a 4 month old domestic medium hair tuxedo girl who is VEEERRRYYY cuddly! The whole litter was extremely cuddely but Kelly was a bit more mellow then one of her brothers, who I also fell in love with. She was scratched in the eye by one of her brothers' so she had to be seperated in a cage with just her and her sister. Her eye is a bit irritated, but they gave me ointment to put in it. Her sister was sweet, but not as outgoing or comfortable with being pet/held. I ended up with a tuxie after all :) I'm so happy and excited!
I will do it right with the introductions. I won't rush it this time. I think it'll work out. She is social, was in with other cats, and in the same room as a bunch of dogs. She's a kitten but not so tiny that I would worry about her getting herself stepped on. Hopefully Minion won't object to the "youngen" too much. I think he'll do just fine, he's such a social guy. I think the youngin' will test his patience, but she'll also keep him young. We are thinking about naming her Misha (prounounced MeeSha). Minion and Misha :)
Pics on Monday when I pick her up :) Yay for Kelly and yay for us...we all made out good :D
