Free Adoption Days: today and tomorrow.: seanan

Free Adoption Days: today and tomorrow.

Today and tomorrow, PetSmart is hosting their Free Adoption Days, on which pet adoption fees are waved for qualified applicants (ie, you have a pulse, a home, understand how not to starve an animal to death, and seem even halfway-corporeal, because we have way too many animals in need of homes). The PetSmart near me, in Concord, California, currently has some absolutely beautiful cats looking for their forever homes. One, Regent, is terrified enough to be hiding in his litter box. Another, Junebug, has already had her adoption fee reduced twice, but as an all-black cat, her odds aren't great.

Cats 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.

Tags: cats

spectralbovine

June 9 2012, 20:37:33 UTC 5 years ago

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What's wrong with an all-black cat? Surely there are witches around.

seanan_mcguire

June 9 2012, 21:05:13 UTC 5 years ago

People are oddly reluctant to adopt solid-black cats. It sucks. She's such a pretty girl, but kittens of color have problems finding permanent homes.

June 9 2012, 21:06:45 UTC 5 years ago

This also applies to humans.

June 9 2012, 21:07:32 UTC 5 years ago

Sadly true.

wendyzski

June 9 2012, 23:17:39 UTC 5 years ago

The bunny version of that are REW (red-eyed whites). Which is sad because they are often the sweetest

soundingsea

June 10 2012, 00:44:27 UTC 5 years ago

That is so weird to me! I mean, our kitty Mir (see icon) is all-black, and so sweet-tempered and gorgeous that I can't imagine him any other way.

scarybaldguy

June 10 2012, 02:52:56 UTC 5 years ago

For real. My kitteh soulmate (that's him in the icon) was solid black and the loviest boy ever.

ironed_orchid

June 10 2012, 06:36:59 UTC 5 years ago

Yeah, when I heard that UK shelters were doing a special marketing thing with celebrities and black cats I was shocked to discover that many black cats are abandoned and don't find homes.

People are STRANGE.

ebartley

June 10 2012, 03:54:55 UTC 5 years ago

Huh. Never knew that. My surviving elderly cat is all black, as is the porch cat (who may get promoted to house cat if the elderly cat dies; two many ex-strays picking on poor elderly cat already.)

elialshadowpine

June 10 2012, 05:15:20 UTC 5 years ago

That's so weird to me. I wanted a black cat ever since I was a small child. We have three now (okay, two of them have really teensy patches of white but are pretty much 97% black). One of them is my housemate's service kitty, who wakes him up to take meds, has literally dragged his med bag across the bed when he couldn't reach it, and if he's bad off and needs help, the cat comes and gets me. ("The cat says to take your meds" is not an unusual phrase here.)

BLACK CATS ARE AWESOME, DAMMIT.

thedragonweaver

June 13 2012, 03:38:29 UTC 5 years ago

I have a black kitty, Maine Coon-Siamese cross. Which manifests in oddly hilarious ways. For instance, he is a large dignified-looking fluffy kitty who squeaks. He's also got a pear-shaped body and a Siamese head, so when he's wet the fluffy slicks down and you've got a narrow-faced kitty with a round belly and rat tail.

My mother also has a black kitty.

I've found the best way to pick a cat is to let the cat pick you. My family has never had anything but rescue kitties (no allergies etc. to worry about) and they are AWESOME.

scifantasy

June 9 2012, 21:59:55 UTC 5 years ago

That was my reaction. I mean, stealth cat!

ladyphoenixia

June 9 2012, 23:11:11 UTC 5 years ago

Yeah, I find that bizarre too - almost all of my cats have been near- or all-black girls, they're totally my favourite. But then I'm not very superstitious.

Charles Ellis

June 10 2012, 05:28:38 UTC 5 years ago

Well, for one thing, black cats have a reputation of being commonly stolen and 'sacrificed' around Halloween. So I can understand some people being hesitant to adopt and bond with a pet that they're worried might be victimized by some stupid punk kid playing at being Satanic.

hsb

June 10 2012, 13:04:18 UTC 5 years ago

Now, is that the same sort of thing as the thing about poisoned candy at Halloween? Because as I understand it, there has never been an example of Halloween candy being poisoned, but the whole US is warned against it every year.

The closest was someone who poisoned their child, hoping the police would assume the source of the poison was his Halloween candy. They didn't.

I just don't think US teens are that much into playing at being Satanic.

H

June 10 2012, 17:50:31 UTC 5 years ago

It's largely an urban legend, reinforced by shelters that refuse to let people adopt black cats in October.

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