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As some of you know, my wife and I volunteer with a certain rescue organization for cats. Other than one problem customer and an equally stupid store manager we had to deal with awhile back, it's been great. The only problem is that we want to take all the kitties home, especially the ones that no one seems to want. And it's really sad when we hear that one has died, or one gets returned. Sometimes the return is no one's fault -- the owner passed away, someone had a baby and the baby turned out to be allergic, etc. But sometimes the reasons are stupid -- the cat gets into everything (that's what cats do!), or they just had no patience. Still, returning them is preferable to just dumping them off somewhere.
This story is about a cat that got returned not once, but twice. He was one of the first cats we met when we started volunteering over two years ago. After two years, his owner returned him because he was "attacking people." The manager wasn't really buying it, because he had never done that to her. Either they were full of shit, or someone was picking with him. Even the nicest animal in the world will eventually turn on you if you pick with them too much.
Thankfully, he was only there for a few weeks before someone else took him. But sadly, that arrangement didn't last. He was returned again for the same reason. The manager told us that the person who took him lived with her grandmother, and she thinks the grandmother didn't want him around, so she used that as an excuse. Sometimes people suck.
This put the manager in a bit of a bind. She was worried about bringing him back in the store, because she was afraid that he'd never get adopted since he was returned twice for supposedly attacking people (they have to disclose that sort of thing.) But she kept him at her house for awhile, and he wasn't doing anything like that, even when she accidentally stepped on him. She even took him to the vet to have him checked out, and the vet even tried to make him attack him, but it just wasn't happening. She did bring him into the store a few Saturdays and had him in one of the temporary cages she keeps in front of the adoption area and then takes home when she leaves. He seemed friendly enough towards us, although there was a time or two he decided he had enough attention and swatted at us. But I'd hardly call that "attacking." If anything, he seemed kind of sad.
Two weeks ago, we went in to volunteer, and he was in one of the outside cages again. We were petting him, and he was very friendly. He even let me pick him up, and flex his paws and purred while I was holding him. We finally broke down and adopted him ourselves. And there are certain perks to volunteering. We still had to pay the same adoption fee as everyone else, and had to fill out an application, but that was really just a formality. What we didn't have to do was wait a week while they checked our vet and our references. We took him home with us as soon as we were done cleaning and spending time with the other cats.
He cried on the way home, but then most cats don't like being in a car or a carrier. When I came in the door with the carrier, our other cats all scattered. I brought him downstairs to the laundry area of the basement and let him out. That's where we keep the litterboxes, so I always let the cats out there when I bring one home for the first time. Most cats run and hide, but he walked around and explored. There was some hissing between him and the other cats at first, but that's calmed down for the most part. The only holdout is our one cat who is very attached to me and doesn't like to share my lap or my attention, but even they're starting to tolerate each other.
He follows me all around the house, climbs up in my lap, takes naps on the couch with me and even climbs in bed with us sometimes. We volunteered again today, and the manager was very happy to hear that he was happy in his new home.
This story is about a cat that got returned not once, but twice. He was one of the first cats we met when we started volunteering over two years ago. After two years, his owner returned him because he was "attacking people." The manager wasn't really buying it, because he had never done that to her. Either they were full of shit, or someone was picking with him. Even the nicest animal in the world will eventually turn on you if you pick with them too much.
Thankfully, he was only there for a few weeks before someone else took him. But sadly, that arrangement didn't last. He was returned again for the same reason. The manager told us that the person who took him lived with her grandmother, and she thinks the grandmother didn't want him around, so she used that as an excuse. Sometimes people suck.
This put the manager in a bit of a bind. She was worried about bringing him back in the store, because she was afraid that he'd never get adopted since he was returned twice for supposedly attacking people (they have to disclose that sort of thing.) But she kept him at her house for awhile, and he wasn't doing anything like that, even when she accidentally stepped on him. She even took him to the vet to have him checked out, and the vet even tried to make him attack him, but it just wasn't happening. She did bring him into the store a few Saturdays and had him in one of the temporary cages she keeps in front of the adoption area and then takes home when she leaves. He seemed friendly enough towards us, although there was a time or two he decided he had enough attention and swatted at us. But I'd hardly call that "attacking." If anything, he seemed kind of sad.
Two weeks ago, we went in to volunteer, and he was in one of the outside cages again. We were petting him, and he was very friendly. He even let me pick him up, and flex his paws and purred while I was holding him. We finally broke down and adopted him ourselves. And there are certain perks to volunteering. We still had to pay the same adoption fee as everyone else, and had to fill out an application, but that was really just a formality. What we didn't have to do was wait a week while they checked our vet and our references. We took him home with us as soon as we were done cleaning and spending time with the other cats.
He cried on the way home, but then most cats don't like being in a car or a carrier. When I came in the door with the carrier, our other cats all scattered. I brought him downstairs to the laundry area of the basement and let him out. That's where we keep the litterboxes, so I always let the cats out there when I bring one home for the first time. Most cats run and hide, but he walked around and explored. There was some hissing between him and the other cats at first, but that's calmed down for the most part. The only holdout is our one cat who is very attached to me and doesn't like to share my lap or my attention, but even they're starting to tolerate each other.
He follows me all around the house, climbs up in my lap, takes naps on the couch with me and even climbs in bed with us sometimes. We volunteered again today, and the manager was very happy to hear that he was happy in his new home.
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So glad that he has a forever home.
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