Come out when you're happy: A cat post

Sorry to those who aren't cat fans. I've been thinking about writing this post for a while. I am reminded about my evil kitty every time I hear or see my bio from my book. Sadly, he died a few days before the book was released. Here are some pictures of him.

He was a beautiful cat. I would post more about him, but I still get emotional and I'm pretty sure few people would care. So, I'll just say he is missed. We had him for 17 years.

The day he died, I came home to an empty house. All the kids were at school. And, while the cat slept most of the time, the house felt empty. I tried to occupy myself with cleaning and writing, but I couldn't shake off that empty feeling. My youngest came home from school that day and said the house felt empty without the kitty, which made it feel even more empty to me.

We weren't planning to get another pet right off. How can you replace someone who has been part of your life for 17 years? I popped onto the Humane Society webpage, just to look, and found a tab on fostering. It was the perfect solution. We could temporary fill in the empty gap in our home until we were ready to adopt. So I sent an email and a few days later we got a call about a mother kitty and two kittens that needed fostering.

Hobbes

Cinderella

The kittens are Manx. Hobbes doesn't have a tail and Cinderalla has a stubby tail. Sometimes Manx kittens have litter box problems because they are born with nerve problems in their back side. They needed to be observed in a home setting before they could be adopted out. (They didn't have any problems using the litter box.) Kittens do better after they are adopted if they have spent time living with people so they are placed in foster homes until they are old enough to be separated from their mother.

Their foster status lasted for about a week before we decided to keep them. The adoption was finalized shortly after their surgeries. (The Humane Society spays and neuters all kittens and their adoptable moms. I don't know about feral moms.) It was about 2 months after our other kitty died, but it wasn't about replacing him. It was about loving them and I was okay with that.

Padme

Padme was desperate for love and also terrified of everything. She spent the first week under our couch. I took this picture after several long grooming sessions. She was a mess when she came to us. Poor baby. Her little family was sent to the Humane Society from another shelter so I didn't know her background, but it was pretty clear that she had been hurt in some way by people.

After a week with us, she slowly started spending more time on the furniture instead of under it. She also developed a sassy attitude, which was so much better than terrified.

We loved Padme, but we weren't the right family for her. She needed a home that didn't have a high amount of traffic. So she went back to the shelter for adoption after she healed from her surgery. I am happy to report that she has been adopted! The Humane Society interviews people who are interested in adopting to be sure they are the right match. The people who took her were the right family for her. We miss her, but it is best that she be with the right family.

I highly recommend fostering for anyone thinking about getting a pet. So often people get a dog or a cat and end up taking them back to the shelter. Fostering is about a 6 week commitment. You can adopt them if you want or return them to the shelter for adoption. (There are still fees, but ours were reduced.) You can always continue fostering and have a never ending supply of kittens or puppies. You can also foster animals that need healing time. You will literally being saving lives.

Now for my soap box. Summer is known at shelters as kitten season because hundreds of abandoned kittens are brought in. So many people fail to spay and neuter their pets. This creates a surplus of puppies and kittens that often end up at the shelter or are abandoned and die an early age. (I suspect that Padme was abandoned.) Even when the owners find families for their furry babies, those are homes that could have gone to a homeless pet. Please, please, please spay and neuter your pets!

And now some more recent pics of the kittens. They are getting big!