Free Adoption Days: today and tomorrow.

Don't forget the doggie love! All my boxers are rescue/shelter dogs and I couldn't imagine life without them. People are so skittish about "pre-owned" pets, but these pups needed a good home and have made a world of difference to my grandparents and myself.

The cat-sized hole in our house was recently filled by an all black shelter cat named Pumba. He's eleven months old, polydactyl (every writer needs at least one Hemingway cat), beautifully socialized, and every bit as goofy as his name. So yeah, I'm a big fan of shelter cats. I wish I had it in me to handle more than one, but like you, I know my limits.
Even so, there are two in the Vola Lawson Shelter (the Alexandria VA shelter where I met Pumba) I wish I could give forever homes. One is a sweet, shy, white-footed tabby guy named Curtiss. The other is a girl named Moonbeam. She'll all black except for a perfect crescent moon of white on her right side. Most amazing markings I've ever seen.
June seems to be adoption month. Vola Lawson is waiving adoption fees for June, too. Talk about bargains--all their cats are vet-examined, neutered as needed, and vaccinated or given boosters as appropriate. The staff also works with the cat and provides a precis of their history and personality. I can't recommend it enough.

Thank you for saying this. We're in the process of adopting our fourth shelter kitty, and it's made our lives immeasurably better to be able to share them with our beasties, and I hope someone, somewhere is inspired to bring someone home by seeing you say this.

I lost my precious Hero 3 weeks ago. I was actually at the Humane Society yesterday, but it turns out I'm not quite ready yet.

Of our four, two came from the local shelter (including one the vet thinks is a breed Maine coon, or very close), and two (mother and son) were hanging around outside a friend's house (who couldn't afford to take them in). The vet thinks the mother is a near-pure ragdoll, though she mostly thinks she's Siamese (and tells everyone this constantly). Unfortunately, four is about the limit we can easily care for, or we'd be awash in cats. My wife had something like 13 when she was younger, but most of those lived outside -- something we don't want to do where we are. (Too many coons, foxes, etc. in the woods around us.)

But I'd definitely recommend shelter cats, both of ours fit into the household very easily. (Actually, the Maine coon was a trifle lonely and needed a playmate, and since we had room for one more at the time, we went back to the shelter and got him a friend, if I remember right.)

My roommates have cats, and I would like to adopt a shelter/fostered kitten to keep the shy/submissive one company. It would be awesome if Little Monster turns out to be a black cat.

(Though we're considering the pick of their friends' foster cat's litter, a bitty tuxedo named Latrice Royale.)

We used to have two cats, Ginger and Bad Cat Fred, who were adopted together from people who said they were giving them up because, "you see, they shed." Really, we thought, even the long haired ones? Both poorly socialized, prob formerly feral (in retrospect), but gave us lovely companionship - and some great stories - over the course of their lives with us (about 12 and 14 years, respectively).

Now we have two rescued dogs, Maui (Golden Retriever/head case mix) and Puck (some kind of Spaniel and something else that herds) (word of advice: never name a dog Puck. Trust me. You'll slip, and then your five-year old will have a new vocabulary word ...). Two really great dogs. Hoping they'll be with us for a long, long time. Our kids love them. We love them. They love us, and we all lived happily ever after (or at least until the zombies come, but that's another story ...).

That said, this is what I have to say about animal rescue. There's a special place in Heaven for those who adopt animals (and even more so for those who adopt children). But some of the folks who work at the adoption centers would do both the animals and the potential adopters a much greater service if they'd be straight about the kind of needs these animals have. Our two cats were "wonderful, social, child-friendly" and turned out to be wonderful, but anti-social and hissed, spat at anyone who came around the corner. Our first rescue dog, Maui - "sweet natured, docile, slightly nervous but give her 6 weeks and she'd come into herself, relax." Turned out to be sweet-natured as long as you're not another similarly sized dog (ask me about the $800 Christmas tree sometime ...), clearly abused in her past life (thank God for Barb Dwyer of See Spot Stay, an EXCELLENT dog trainer, positive training all the way works), fearful of everything that moved until some intensive therapy ensued.

All our animals turned out to be great pets, but we would have been so much better prepared had we had more warning. We can't be the only family that adopted rescue animals only to find out all was not as it seemed. The race to find a home for each animal by (admittedly under-staffed, under-funded) adoption agenies does a disservice to both stressed out animals and stressed out adopters by sweeping the real stories under the rug when it's time to find families for these wonderful animals, and robs both the animals and the adopters of the chance to find a home that really is prepared and the right fit for both sides of the equation.

xoxo -

D

Most of my cats have been rescues of some sort or another; I've usually ended up with them because otherwise they would have gone to a shelter (or in the case of my black cat Ebony, she was feral and living on a farm full of hunting dogs and had been injured; she has some amount of arthritis and a permanent limp). If I could I would totally be all over something like this but *le sigh* we have 6 and technically our lease only allows for 5. :(

Our much-missed Alias had severe potty problems when we first got her, and my husband commented many times (especially after she left a mess behind the heaviest piece of furniture in the house) that most people would've surrendered her to a shelter. She was one of the most affectionate cats I've ever known- anything but "bad." And eventually, a covered litter box solved the potty problems,

Oh, and re: black cats, our mostly-black Finder is an intelligent, sweet, loveable kitty.

Our cat Abby seen in the icon, is a Pet Smart adoptee. She is a beautiful, fearless girl who is currently chasing Chaucer around the dining room, despite the fact that he's almost twice her size.

And you can see she is very dignified as well.

Those who can't get a cat for whatever reason (frex, my family is allergic) should consider not only shelter dogs, but rescued greyhounds who've been retired from racing. They're sweet, sweet dogs; usually, the person fostering them to get them used to houses instead of kennels will be able to tell you their quirks and difficulties; they have short hair and aren't as allergenic as many other dogs; and ours, at least, doesn't bark or jump or lick (which are, for us, plusses).

If they aren't taken in by a rescue organization, they're euthanized once they retire (or bred and then euthanized), which is a damn shame since the main problem many of them have as potential pets is not being able to tell the difference between cats/small dogs and, er, prey - oh, and the fact that you're usually getting them in the middle of their expected lifespan, which, them being big dogs, is sadly short.

*greyhound evangelist*

I just called our local Petsmart (McHenry/Johnsburg, IL) and the lady who answered the phone said that there's no free adoption going on today. WTF? Maybe I'll try the other nearby store.

If only I weren't allergic! Certainly, we could use a good mouser around here. Though, my current partner in crime, err, I mean harness certainly thinks she's a mighty hunter.

So wish I could have another cat! We adopted our feral cat, Clovis, six years ago. She was sickly, practically on the verge of death. Now she's a happy fatty. Lord knows what she's eating outside (*Shudder*) because we don't feed her that much food!

We also adopted a lovely dog last December, and named her Lucy. She's a mix (Aussie Shepherd, Siberian Husky, Collie) and is the sweetest dog you could meet. Not an aggressive bone in her body does she have. :)

I don't get the black cat thing!! We're not actively looking to add to our furrmily, with two labs & a little cat who raised them into the furrmily we have a lovely, respectful and playful dynamic. </p>

That said, if we get adopted by a stray cat/kitten, we'll likely keep it, because that's not actively looking. (yes, we're in denial) My fantasy is that it'll end up being a black cat! So I'm hoping with our house move we'll be prime new targets for the universe ;)

Growing up, all of our cats were pre-shelter rescues - strays that decided to come home with us, leave-behinds when people moved out-of-state, or "if we can't find a home for them, they're going to the pound!" cats. Then there was the pretty, fluffy white kitten with the bow on its neck under the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve, only for the family to discover that all of their children were allergic. Heard the story during "church coffee" after services on Christmas morning, and on our way home we stopped to pick up our new fluffy white kitten!!! Happy Christmas!

We had 2 cats when I was a kid, Snoopy (male, white and tabby) and Woodstock (female, aka Woody, all black). They were wonderful. Woody got 1 white whisker later in life, and that was the only white hair we ever found on her. It's sad that black cats have so much trouble getting adopted, and that so many of them seem to get abused.
Rami is really good at hiding his white fur. As I look across the room, he appears all black, although he is a most adorable tuxedo irl. He's the one not in my icon photo, but I've attached a photo here: http://img.movoda.net/1u6jj95e.jpg That was just a couple of days after I adopted him in late February, and he was still living in the bathroom. All 3 of mine after from shelters, and they are wonderful.
I love these events, but there's always a worry in the back of my mind, about how many of the adopters are looking for bait, and specifically wait for these days. Here's hoping all of the wonderful kitties find great homes with people who love them, and that many cat-shaped holes in people's lives are filled.

I adopted my 2 girls from PetSmart back in August. I couldn't be happier with them. I spent 2 hours playing with cats there, trying to find a right fit. These two were the only ones that showed any interest in me, and they more or less claimed me right up front. MINE MINE MINE, they said, with their purrs and their chin rubs. So, they were the right ones.

It's so very important to spend time before choosing the cats; not just look at a pretty face and think you want them. I had gone in there hoping to pick up a black cat, since they get the shaft all the time, but none of the black cats wanted anything to do with me, and having lived with a cat that wants nothing to do with you - it's a huge disappointment. It was two torties/calicos - who also get the shaft for a bad reputation of being mean - that chose me. I'm so very glad they did.

Yes! Adopt! I really wanted to get Maine Coon kittens from a breeder simply because I wanted to raise my own best friend. However, I couldn't afford it. Maybe someday. About three months ago now I did a random search on petfinder.com for Maine Coons and came across two lovely pictures of male, 10 yr old Coons. I called and found out they were supposed to be put to sleep the following day. I went in, had about five minutes to decide that the boys, brothers and together since birth, were mine. It was by far a great decision and I love them dearly. I don't know why their previous family gave them up, but they're so well behaved and sweet and loving and adorable and yeah. They're mine and you couldn't convince me to part with them! So hurray adoptions!

Shelter kitties FTW! Here's my two:

Twelve years and counting.

I've had rescue cats and breeder cats- cats are wonderful. Thank you for posting this.