How We Adopted Our Cats

We discuss rather a lot about pet adoption round right here, however let’s be trustworthy… not all pets come to us from a shelter or rescue. So, in that vein, enable me to formally introduce our cats: Meet Newt and Ripley!

OK, OK. When you’ve been right here some time, you’ve met. 🙂 However, for many who are new, or for many who don’t learn about our kitty contingent–it’s OhMyDOG in any case–I wished to inform their tales and discuss just a little bit about a few of the different methods pets enter our lives.

Newt discovered John whereas he lived in Houma, LA. He wasn’t searching for a cat, and our life was in chaos at the moment–he was commuting between LA and IN whereas I underwent chemo. Had we walked right into a shelter and tried to undertake a cat–two properties in two states, three canine who had by no means met a cat earlier than, jobs in flux, earnings unpredictable, and so forth.–we might’ve been denied for positive. But, right here comes Newt, waltzing into our world.

Was it the best time so as to add a cat to the household? Nope.

Did we now have any concept what we have been doing with a cat? Double nope.

Had been we going to determine the best way to make it work? Heck yeah.

It was value it for us, however I’m definitely not recommending something comparable for some other household. The truth is, when different animals stumbled into our lives shortly after Newt–first Molly then Petey–we knew it was greatest to seek out them their very own households outdoors of ours.

Fortunately, Newt is one robust cookie. She tailored effectively to shifting from her first condominium with John to our Houma home to our Bloomington home to our Indy home, and assembly the canine, and adopting Violet, and including Ripley to the combination, and who is aware of what else I’m forgetting.

It’s her persona, an innate attribute of hers to simply be positive she’s the Queen Bee it doesn’t matter what or the place or who’s round her. It comes out in less-than-kind methods typically (she’s been identified to whoop a canine or two in her day and chunk an individual or two or virtually all of them), however that trait helps her face life with nothing however confidence always.

We might all profit from having just a little Newt inspo, I believe.

I missed writing her Gotcha Day letter this 12 months, so please get pleasure from final 12 months’s Expensive Newt!

Ripley discovered us on Fb. Nicely, I discovered her.

A good friend posted {that a} mama cat appeared in her barn. Nobody round her acknowledged the cat. She and her husband determined to maintain the mama secure till she had her kittens then discover properties for the lot–together with the mother–as soon as they have been eight weeks outdated. After the kittens have been born, she posted a pic, and I stated, “If we have been searching for a kitten, it will be this one.” I pointed to the long run Ripley.

Weeks glided by, and she or he stored posting how glad she was that the mother had discovered a house and that many of the kittens had, too. Then, she shared a pic of Ripley and stated one thing like, “This one is so candy, however nobody’s adopted her but!”

I turned to John, “On a scale of 1 to 10, how a lot do you not need a cat?”

Later that week, we drove out to their farm and picked up Ripley.

Ripley couldn’t be extra totally different from Newt than in the event that they have been two totally different species. Whereas Newt is daring and couldn’t-care-less, Ripley is timid and cares an entire lot.

She’s frightened of latest issues. When one thing startles her, she hisses and darts away. She hides beneath the mattress every time one thing totally different occurs or somebody new is in the home. Nonetheless… as soon as she will get to know you… She purrs and rubs everybody as soon as she’s cozy with you and wouldn’t dream of biting us or Cooper.

We weren’t searching for Ripley both, however she’s the right addition to the household. She and Violet are rising up side-by-side, and Ripley and Cooper share a love for cuddling. Ripley instantly liked Newt and recognized her because the Huge Cat of their relationship.

In some ways, being opposites is strictly what they each wanted!

I additionally missed writing Ripley’s Gotcha Day letter this 12 months, so please get pleasure from final 12 months’s Expensive Ripley! I simply reread it, and whooooo boy. She hasn’t modified, not one bit.

So, my level in all this–aside from closing a niche of their Gotcha Day letters, all of which I missed due to being down and out for 2 months, however now that I’m appendix-free I’m getting all caught up, and talking of which right here’s Cooper’s final 12 months letter as a result of I missed his, too!–so, my level in all that is to say: Pets come to us in all kinds of how.

They arrive whether or not we’re trying or not. The proper ones, effectively, we simply know. They usually know. I believe that’s partly why we knew we needed to discover Molly and Petey their households… they weren’t meant for ours, and all of us knew it. Our crew? Meant for us.

I used to be fascinated about all this not too long ago as a result of a good friend was denied an adoption software, regardless of already being a pet proprietor… and a devoted one at that. But, she wasn’t deemed appropriate for this explicit rescue. I battle with this and have written about it a bunch (some hyperlinks are under) as a result of the fact is, and what my cats exhibit, animals come from all kinds of locations. Somebody who needs a pet goes to get one, even when an adoption software is denied.

I really like my cats to items. They match our household completely. No, that’s not fairly proper… They make our household. We weren’t searching for a cat in both case. We didn’t fill out an software or pay a price or go to a shelter. But, we adopted them wholeheartedly and work on daily basis to ensure this bunch is completely satisfied and wholesome.

On the finish of the day, that’s all we are able to do for our pets, isn’t it? Irrespective of the place they arrive from!

How did your pets be part of your loved ones? Bought from a breeder? Adoption from a shelter or rescue? Discovered on the road? I’d LOVE to listen to your tales within the feedback under!

Learn extra:

How To not Undertake a Pet: Eradicating Limitations to Pet Adoption

Selecting a Pet: Is adoption proper for my household?

Ought to pet adoptions be free?

Learn Extra