indescribableCats wind up in shelters for a lot of reasons, and very few of them are "because s/he was a bad cat." People lose their jobs, or move away and don't take their pets. Kids leave for college. People die. People lose the wherewithal to feed themselves, much less an extra, meowing mouth. And in all of these cases the cats, who have no idea what's going on, wind up suffering for it.
Amazing cats come from shelters. Adult cats who don't need to be trained; kittens who have all the world in front of them. Cats whose personalities are already plain when you meet them, making it so much easier to find the right cat for you. Cats who need you.
I've been very upfront about why none of my current cats are from shelters, and why my lifestyle and emotional needs are better met by reputable breeders. But if you don't fall into this category, and feel that there might be a cat-shaped hole in your life, go and take a look at your local shelter.
This post brought to you by the California Dammit Why Can't I Take Junebug Home Oh Yeah Alice Would Kill Her To Death Committee.
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June 9 2012, 20:37:33 UTC 5 years ago
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June 9 2012, 20:45:30 UTC 5 years ago Edited: June 9 2012, 20:45:59 UTC
In April, I went to the local humane society and fell in love with an adorable black furball, now in residence on my knee. (Well, actually, she's jammed into the corner of the chair. She has the weirdest sleeping positions.) She'll be a year old this summer solstice, and she spent more of her life before I adopted her in the humane society than anywhere else.
Other than occasionally almost tripping over her in the dark, Astra and I do splendidly. (She is one of those cats who thinks adoration includes twining around your ankles. In a black cat, this does present some logistical challenges.)
June 9 2012, 21:05:52 UTC 5 years ago
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June 9 2012, 21:06:07 UTC 5 years ago
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June 9 2012, 21:06:16 UTC 5 years ago
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June 9 2012, 21:00:04 UTC 5 years ago
my two are shelter beasties - innocent adult animals now given another chance and a forever home.
June 9 2012, 21:06:44 UTC 5 years ago
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June 9 2012, 21:06:51 UTC 5 years ago
If/when we end up with a kitten / another cat, it is likely to be another black/mostly black one (see my own adoptees in the picture), or another "special needs" cat like the white, blue-eyed, stone-deaf one on the right. (Now sadly gone, but she had a pretty good life with us.)
June 9 2012, 21:15:11 UTC 5 years ago
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June 9 2012, 21:36:37 UTC 5 years ago
Two of my cats are Tuxedos -- though Cairo has less white on him than any tuxedo I'd previously seen -- and except for at night when Cairo shows his love by being exactly where I need to walk, I love everything about them. It makes me sad that black cats have such a bad rap.
June 9 2012, 23:09:23 UTC 5 years ago
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June 9 2012, 22:04:03 UTC 5 years ago
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June 9 2012, 22:00:56 UTC 5 years ago
Sure, they're neurotic and weird and pains in the ass, but we've never had a bad cat.
I never lack for someone to sleep on my head and be a furry hat.
June 9 2012, 23:09:57 UTC 5 years ago
June 9 2012, 22:27:29 UTC 5 years ago
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June 9 2012, 22:41:24 UTC 5 years ago
I told Adam when we hit it big and have a big house with lots of land, I'm going to have all sorts of animals.
June 9 2012, 23:10:21 UTC 5 years ago
June 9 2012, 22:51:45 UTC 5 years ago
I will also throw in a plug for adult cats. They aren't problematic to acclimate, as many people assume they are. If anything, they're easier because you aren't dealing with the constant kitten stupidity which, while adorable, is exhausting.
I also want to say that adopting two at a time saves two lives AND gives them a playmate. This works even when introducing new cats into a home with cats already in it. If we had not adopted both Etrigan AND Smooch, we would have been able to keep neither. As it is, they are friends with one another, and play with one another, and thus they do not pester the other cats (too much) and are not lonely.
And, finally: special needs cats. This doesn't have to be "needs thrice-daily infusions of unicorn tears imported from Siberia." It doesn't have to mean expensive food or medical needs. It can just mean being deaf or missing an eye or a leg or just being kinda ugly. These pets get passed over for "perfect" pets with all their parts, which is a shame, since they are often incredibly sweet and easygoing cats.
This guy is a purebred blue-point Himalayan:
I adopted him as a young adult. He'd been in foster care for months because nobody wanted him. What the hell? Sure, he has a gimpy pushed-in head on one side and a twisted snout and an empty socket where his left eye should be and he makes sounds like someone breathing through Jell-O when he sleeps. Also, he smells like a yeti's old laundry. But I think he's beautiful, and all the ways in which he is somewhat less than breed standard don't cost me anything in health care. Plus, he is goofy and makes me laugh every single day, and you cannot put a price on that. I mean, really:
I can't believe nobody wanted this angel. (Did it hurt when you fall from heaven? 'Cause your face is kinda fucked up.)
My beloved Tazendra who passed away a year ago and change was a stray kitten found by a friend, and she kept me going through the worst depression I'd ever had. I would not be here if not for her, which makes her my hero. At the risk of being cheesy, adopt a pet; the life you save may be your own.
<3
June 9 2012, 23:11:01 UTC 5 years ago
I still wish my kids would let me bring Junebug home.
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June 9 2012, 23:18:04 UTC 5 years ago
About two weeks ago, I went to feed our feral (an orange gentleman who has his own bachelor pad in the basement), and he escorted a half-grown lady cat to the back door.
Walked her around the corner of the building and called her up to the food.
She took one look at the door and ran in, shouting "The Inside, I've found it!."
I don't think she'd ever been outside before.
She is long-haired white kitty with mismatched eyes, who arrived immaculate, with just a little surface mess on her tail, poor thing.
Which mess matched that in the bottom of the open carrier we later found hidden in our hedge.
I'm not sure what the people who dropped her off were thinking.
I hope it was "these folks have a bunch of cats, what's one more?" rather than "puffy kitty can surely support herself real mice, because look how well she pounces her toys."
But in either case I am without words.
I think she was dropped off in the night, encountered the feral (Al Fresco) who showed her the basement, and then turned up at the door the next morning for food.
And so she didn't instead find the street, or the construction site next door, or the local occasional free-roaming dog, or ill-intentioned people.
Lucky kitty.
She didn't have to spend a lot of time lost and afraid - though I think she is still wondering who the heck we are and where her home went.
I have Very Bad Thoughts about people who drop kitties off on the street.
June 10 2012, 18:15:09 UTC 5 years ago
June 9 2012, 23:27:51 UTC 5 years ago
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sP4NMoJc
In case anyone needs extra incentive to think about cats.
June 10 2012, 18:15:19 UTC 5 years ago
June 9 2012, 23:53:22 UTC 5 years ago
That's why there was no real choice but to take Dorothy (in pic) when she came running out of a hotel parking lot & plopped down at our feet looking hopeful. Not only was she black, but she was half-grown & no longer a wee kitten, and the local shelter has a horrible kill rate, even for the most likely adoptables. Not even the oddity of being a black smoke (skin & base of each hair are white) would have saved her.
She got her name because she was so obviously a wicked Lost Girl saving herself. :)
All 4 of our cats are rescues of some sort. Heidi is quite possibly a purebred Maine Coon, but ended up in a shelter anyway. 2 part-Siamese brothers round out our crew.
Steve was raised with a couple purebred Siamese & we've donated enough to the local Siamese rescue group (among others) that I'm sure they'll be happy to find us one the next time we have a vacancy -- unless another stray show up 1st.
June 10 2012, 18:15:37 UTC 5 years ago
June 10 2012, 00:05:54 UTC 5 years ago
Simon, my other kitty, is a completely black monstrosity that I adopted from a coworker who's bluepoint Siamese escaped and got knocked up. I'm pretty sure his dad was a Maine Coon; he's so big and goofy and lovable that I really can't stand it ...and there goes my lappie mouse as a cat toy. SIMON!
And no, I had no concerns about him being a Basement Kitty; the best cat I'd ever had as a kid was named Spook, and she had a personality that made you sit up and pay attention. :3 So no, I've never had issues with having black cats. It makes me sad that people dislike them, because I wouldn't trade my dark darlings for anything.
June 10 2012, 04:09:10 UTC 5 years ago
(Pic is of our Heidi.)
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June 10 2012, 14:43:46 UTC 5 years ago
One of the reasons we were attracted to these particular kitties is that they were part of a litter of seven kittens found on a farm whose foster mom had given them celestial names. In addition to Nova and Luna, there were Orbit, Doppler, Cosmos, Starla, and Zora. So one can claim we were destined to adopt kitties from that particular clan.
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June 10 2012, 00:59:24 UTC 5 years ago
Poor baby. I hope he's found a home. :(
June 10 2012, 18:16:44 UTC 5 years ago
June 10 2012, 01:26:15 UTC 5 years ago
She has been bulimic since I got her [gulping food and barfing, sometimes more than 4x a day]. After checking for allergies and intestinal problems, I found a vet who diagnosed her at age 6 - with food anxiety and recommended no-grain kibble be available at all time and to give her a teaspoon of food about 6x a day. This has reduced barfy-ness to doing so less than a dozen times a week.
Dusty is now 21 [and a half] years old. [Yes, I've cleaned up after her the entire time.] She's been a totally indoor kitty and I ascribe her longevity in large part to that. She is not a very friendly creature, but as best I can help, she is happy and healthy [barfy-ness notwithstanding]. I fear she is reaching the end of her life and I'll be looking for another cat soon[ish]. Life just requires there be at least one kitty in it.
June 10 2012, 01:31:23 UTC 5 years ago
Sorry - the above comment was made to -validate- NOT getting a shelter kitten. I've never had one that was not damaged in some way. More adult cats are likely to have been cared for by more responsible owners, but the kittens are more scarred by early events. So getting cats from responsible breeders will give you a better chance IMO of gettting a well-adjusted cat.
I think lots of prospective cat owners don't think ahead to the problems their shelter-kitties may have and do not give them the special care they may need because of this. That was kind of my point....
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June 10 2012, 02:03:57 UTC 5 years ago
June 10 2012, 18:17:29 UTC 5 years ago
June 10 2012, 02:06:35 UTC 5 years ago
What's wrong with a black cat? I grew up with cats of assorted colors, and the black ones weren't any weirder than the rest of the lot. The matriarch was a part-Siamese, so they were all pretty weird, but still...
June 10 2012, 02:56:14 UTC 5 years ago
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June 10 2012, 02:07:50 UTC 5 years ago
Nine is enough.
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