Hi Everyone,

MumblesMom is busy with summer courses at the moment, so she has passed the blogging torch to me for now.  I’ll do my best to keep you informed and entertained. To that end, I would like to discuss an important topic, picking a pet to adopt, and tell you a story that had a happy ending.

Often people show up at animal shelters or the humane society and choose a pet because it’s cute, or has double paws, or long hair, or looks like a previous pet. Selecting a new member of the family should involve more than just finding a cat or dog whose look appeals to you. Animals in shelters come from a variety of places. Sometimes they are from an unwanted or “accidental” litter, brought in when the kittens or puppies are just old enough to leave their nursing mom and too cute to resist. Some kittens are from feral (untamed) mothers, brought in when her litter has been discovered. Some animals are old family pets brought in because families are moving or an owner has passed away. Other times, animals in shelters have been rescued from an abusive situation. Although these animals may make good pets for some people, they have special needs that must be considered for a proper placement. An abused animal usually cannot handle a home with smaller children or a great number of people. Loud noises and sudden movements can make them feel threatened. This can be dangerous for both the pet and the people around it.

Your home situation, the number and age of household members, the frequency that someone is home with the animal are all factors that should be considered when adopting a pet.

With that caution in mind, here is a story that had a happy ending all the way around.

My mother had orange tiger cats her entire life. It wasn’t planned, it just happened that every time she got a cat, it turned out to be a male orange tiger. From as long as I can remember our house had an orange kitty running around. We had three altogether, Benjamin our first, then Christopher, then Johnathan. (Notice a theme with the names? No Morris or Felix at our house.)

When her last cat, Johnny as we called him, passed away at the age of 19, my Mom held off on getting another. She was in the process of building a new home and did not want to traumatize a pet by moving.
When her new house was complete, every last switch plate installed, each piece of furniture in place, she had created a lovely new home, but something was missing. There was no kitty perched on a bookshelf, or threading through her legs as she stood at the stove. No cat curled up and purred on my Dad’s belly while he watched television or tried to chase the pages of the book he was reading.

My daughter decided to make it her mission to find a new orange tiger cat for her grandmother’s upcoming birthday. She scoured the internet and called every local animal shelter for weeks. She got lucky. At last she found a listing for an orange tabby at a local shelter. He was estimated to be six months old. We made an appointment to visit the shelter and get to know this cat that looked so adorable from the photos posted online.

When we arrived at the Branford Animal Shelter, we met with a lovely woman who wanted to give us a head’s up about this particular cat. He was found by a shelter staff member outside of the facility, with his head stuck in a dog food can. Staff members believed that the kitten had not only been neglected but appeared to have been abused as well. How he ended up outside the shelter was a mystery.

Staff members named this cat “Roy Boy” and took care of him. He was cleaned up, seen by a vet regularly and gently nurtured to accept human attention. It was a few months before the shelter put him up for adoption.

My mother, my daughter and I were a little anxious about meeting Roy Boy after we heard his story, but thought “why not just meet him?” My Mom and Dad both love cats and there are no children living in their house, so the situation seemed ideal, especially to the shelter staff. We got our first glimpse of Roy Boy in a cage half hidden under a blanket. The room also housed all the other cats and kittens available for adoption. It took a while to coax Roy Boy out of his cage and into my mother’s arms. In the meantime the room was full of adorable fluffy kittens all mewing and playing and catching our attention. We spent over an hour with Roy Boy and all the other felines frolicking around the room. My daughter was a little disheartened because Roy was so shy and kept trying to hide, but my mother, being the trooper that she is, kept holding him and talking to him softly. After a while he settled down a bit. Staff members explained that it would probably take up to 6 months for this particular cat to become comfortable in his surroundings and with other people. They would not adopt him out to a home with small children or too many people. My mother decided she was up for the challenge of loving this little guy and making a comfortable home for him and that she was happy with such a precious gift from her granddaughter.

For several weeks Roy, whose name eventually morphed to Pretty Boy and then Mr. Kitty, would only come out from under the bed to eat and use the litter box. When visiting my mom I would often find her hanging out from under the bed where she was petting or playing with the cat. After a few weeks Mr. Kitty decided that he would come out from under the bed and spend his time under the comforter on top of the bed. When anyone would go in and visit him, we would see only a slow-moving lump under the covers. At the 6-month mark, after hours of coaxing and gently cajoling by my patient mother and dad, Mr. Kitty was comfortable enough to roam both floors of the entire house and climb onto the furniture to cuddle or play with Mom or Dad.

He is now a very happy cat that gives and receives lots of attention and affection. He loves to lay across my mom while she has her morning coffee, he follows my dad around the house like a shadow.  Lying across the sofa on the screened in porch and watching the egrets in the marsh is a favorite pastime. He is still shy when the house is full of visiting grandchildren or there is a party underway, but all in all my parents turned out to be the perfect fit for Mr. Kitty.