In case anyone was curious, we ended up adopting a cat from an animal shelter. My husband didn't feel allergic at all while he was in the shelter, so we figured it would be OK.
We got a black, five-year-old female cat. Her back story is that three months ago, she approached a person in their driveway for help, and the person took her to a shelter. Apparently, she had been living with a family a year ago, and either they abandoned her or she ran away. In any case, they located the family through her microchip and they said they didn't have money to feed her.
The shelter was a little bit ridiculous about letting us adopt her. We had to fill out pages of paperwork, and even though we gave them a reference, they actually called me at home, asking for a SECOND reference. They even called my work to verify my employment. I mean, I'm glad they make sure that the cats have a good home, but this is a cat that was eating out of garbage cans three months ago. I'm sure it was pretty obvious we could do better than that.
Anyway, the cat is currently in our bathroom, and seems to be very happy. She purrs a lot, and we were all relieved that she used the litter box. Nobody seems to be allergic either, so that's a plus.
The paperwork can be overwhelming; my wife and I adopted a fourth cat, and there were half a dozen forms to fill out. This wasn't quite as tedious as filling out paperwork for a job with clearance, but close.
ReplyDeleteWhen I started contracting more than 30 years ago, there were still some office dogs and cats around. My first drafting job had a cat who liked to walk on vellum drawings. That is unfortunately no longer the case.
Yes, you'd think you were adopting a child with the paperwork. I know it is to protect the animal, but . . .
ReplyDeleteI am happy things are working out and that you adopted an older animal. The kittens go quick, but the older boys and girls are often overlooked.
Actually, our newest update is that the cat hid somewhere in our apartment overnight and now we can't find her :(
ReplyDeleteToo many people adopt and then just abandon the animals or give them back. I think they just want to do the best they can to prevent such things from happening.
ReplyDeleteFizzy, this is a new experience for her. She's stressed and probably a little afraid. When she feels safe, she'll come out. It will take some time, but she'll get there.
ReplyDeleteYeah Fizzy, I wouldn't worry. I had adopted an older cat abandoned by its owner because the woman didn't want to deal with giving the cat antibiotics. The cat hid under my hutch for two weeks. When she came out, she ruled the house. Cats are creatures that hate stress and hate change. Moving into a new home is both. So giver her some time, some love, and wet cat food.
ReplyDeleteHappy parenthood!!!
ReplyDeleteI have adopted everything from 8 weeks to 9 years old. :) Very happy with all of my kids.
they should spend less time investigating 2nd references for cat adoption, and more time investigating child and elder abuse.
ReplyDeleteA couple of days hiding is normal for our cats when we move house (and they still know who we are and all the furniture!). Hiding is pretty normal, and if you live in an apartment they cannot get into too much of a pickle (we did once have a new cat end up under the floorboards in a rickety house we lived in, we had to rip up the floor to get her out!!)
ReplyDeletePlease post a kitty update when you can!
ReplyDeleteIs it possible that she got out and is roaming the building (depending on how or got into someone else's unit? I hope you find her soon and unharmed. Glad to hear that nobody is showing signs of an allergic reaction. I'm sure your children love having a pet.
ReplyDeleteWe found her, thanks :-) she was hiding in a hole under our kitchen counter.
DeleteI discovered I have a cat allergy after having a cat until I was 18 and then getting two kittens right after I got married at 22. (the first one hid in dh's car engine, and dh's coworker saw his tail sticking out from under the front wheel well. He was a stripey brown and black cat, so the tail looked like a racoon. Dh blew the horn trying to get the coon to leave, but it didn't. When dh took the wheel well apart, he discovered this teeny malnourished kitten. We took him home and to the vet--and by the weekend (this of course happened on Friday night) he moved into our apartment and into our hearts. The second kitten was "free with a bag of kitten food". When dh came to the pet shop to look at the kittens the owner had rescued, she walked up his arm and sat on his shoulder. They both picked us. I took allergy shots until my heart condition made it too risky (extremely low bp/epinephrine does nasty things to me) We adopted a third cat--didn't have allergies to him. (they required everything but blood and stool samples to adopt him). I'm fine with all 3 of my cats and don't take any meds, but I have to take allergy meds around my mom's cat. Bathing a few times a year also really helps.
ReplyDeleteThe first night we had our kitten, we put him in our spare bedroom to help him acclimate--this after he tore up our bathroom. We couldn't find him. Took *everything* out of the room and the closet where we last saw him. Well, everything except for the extremely heavy dresser we bought at a remnant store that sold old hotel furniture. Turns out this kitten crawled under the kickboard at the bottom of the piece of furniture--a half inch hole. Fun times. We were panicked to figure out where he had disappeared. Our female cat decided to do the encore to this joke--we moved into a 1905 bungalow where the previous tenant had cut a hole for a cat door into the basement door. We didn't want our cats disappearing down there because we weren't sure how secure the basement was and if the cats could get outside. Of course the cat moved the boxes we had put up against the door, snooped around the basement and had gotten herself wedged in a weird hovel against the side wall above the hot water pipe going to the radiant heating. The heat was on, and the pipe was hot, but we rescued her before she burnt herself. Dumbass cat. We know she did it on purpose. Our male cat is the type that never gets enough attention, even when he crawls up your butt. If he feels neglected, he steps on the remote and changes the channel/backs out of Netflix. When he's *really* pissed, he hits the power button. He'd done it so many times it can't be by accident. Good thing they're cute.
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