Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) wrote,
Seanan McGuire
seanan_mcguire
  • Mood: indescribable
  • Music: Glee, "Rio/Hungry Like the Wolf."

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
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  • 153 comments

grey_lady

June 9 2012, 21:06:51 UTC 5 years ago

I don't understand the bias against black or tuxedo cats.
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.)

dulcinbradbury

June 9 2012, 21:15:11 UTC 5 years ago

I never realized there *was* a bias. But I don't pick cats on looks. Actually I don't pick cats at all. They sort of turn up to tell me "ME! I AM YOUR CAT YOU JUST DIDN'T KNOW IT YET!"

reedrover

June 9 2012, 22:34:33 UTC 5 years ago

All of the cats that we adopted from the vet and from the SPCA managed to do that to us, save one. The biggest personalities have come from adopted cats. HI. I AM THE CAT FOR YOU. YOU MUST LOVE ME. One of them even walked to his own theme music, I swear.

chantry

June 10 2012, 05:15:49 UTC 5 years ago

Yep - my current baby was three years old when we met her at the Humane Society. She was the first cat we visited with that, after the obligatory "AAAHHHH I'M OUT OF THE CAGE MUST EXPLORE THIS ENTIRE TINY ROOM TWICE!" then came over to sniff at and interact with us, instead of going back for a third trip around the visiting room.

Phoebe T. Katt, Queen of the Universe (her whole name - the silly Humane Society just told us it was Phoebe, but she quickly made sure we knew the whole thing), is now 15 years old, crochety and geriatric, and we wouldn't give her up for the world.

ironed_orchid

June 10 2012, 06:42:23 UTC 5 years ago

That is my usual method of acquiring cats.

thedragonweaver

June 13 2012, 03:45:45 UTC 5 years ago

Yup, that's why we have two cats adopted at the same time instead of the one we went to get. It posed a bit of a logistical challenge since they were four-month kittens, one male, and one female, and they wouldn't let us adopt them both without one being fixed. Thankfully, there was a vet with a slot the next morning and we put a 24hr-hold on the female so we could get the male fixed.

Female kitty (Nimuë, called Mui) has just jumped into my lap and started purring, which is the behavior that made me say "We need THIS one." The male (Percival) still stands on his hind legs and reaches for the pettins. They are twelve now and may they live to be twice that age.