Friends

My worries about Puck and Bean not getting along are over. I think this photo says it all. Puck seems so happy to have a buddy. Logan is much older, and never really bonded with Puck. The best I can say is that they tolerate each other, which is pretty much how Logan is with Bean as well.

Puck and Bean are actually buddies. They love to wrestle together and they love when I have an extra box to leave out for them to climb and play with. I haven’t been able to get a video yet, but one cat will be in the box, one will be on top or on the side, and they will just pounce on each other over and over again.

Hector has always been obsessed with cardboard.  She always has a supply of boxes in or near her cage. Lately, she has been strolling across the floor and getting into the pile of spare boxes I keep. Last night, she decided she wanted the box the cats were playing with. She strolled over, looked at the cats, and went into the box and started chewing it up.  I saw Puck zip away from the box, and Bean was sitting just outside of it. I was wondering if Hector would feel trapped and get upset, so I was keeping a very close eye on things.  When Hector was done adding some ventilation to the box, she looked at Bean, chirped and strutted back to her cage. Bean just moved right out of her way, smart kitty already seems to know that Hector rules this roost!

About 5:30 this morning, I woke up to the sound of running cats. Bean and Puck has decided that was a good time for a wrestling match. While I’m really happy the cats are getting along, I’d prefer if they could pick another time or location for their escapades.

But look at that little face, even though I’m not a morning person, I can’t stay mad for long. At this moment, the little guy is curled up around the back of my neck while I’m typing. He’s so soft and warm, an excellent neck warmer!

 

Munk the Cat

Munk-Y Cat

I am a big believer in Adopt Don’t Shop, but here’s a little twist… the pet you think you want, may not necessarily be the right pet for you. My advice? Go looking for a new friend with an open mind. We no longer have Munk the cat, unfortunately he passed away a few years ago, but I will never forget his story.

Our whole family went to the local humane society to adopt a new kitten. We went into the cat room and played with the loose cat that was wandering around, and we looked for kittens. Unfortunately, no kittens were available for adoption that day. We continued to pat the adult cat that was loose in the room while we looked at the other adult cats that were there. Sadly, none of them caught our eye.

We hung out in a corner of the room for a minute to talk, should we wait until next weekend and check back? Should we try other shelters? As we talked, we all took turns patting the loose cat. The kids were disappointed, but it seemed the right kitten wasn’t there for us that day, so we headed for the door.

Slowly, we headed for the parking lot, then I stopped. My family turned to look at me. “Everything OK,” my husband asked. “Why don’t we think about adopting that cat that was loose?” was my reply. We all patted him, he followed us around the room. If we wanted a friendly, out-going cat, that guy was awesome.

We turned and went back in. The family went to see the cat again, and I went to the desk for an application. Sadly, another family was already at the desk filling out an application for Gunther, the cat we decided we wanted. The woman at the desk told me they always pick the best family for each animal and not the first family and she encouraged me to fill out the application anyway. As I stood there writing away, I heard the other people fighting about the cat. It was a Grandma, a Mom, and a boy. Grandma wanted to adopt a pet for the boy. The boy wanted a dog, the Mom said he could have a cat. Boy started screaming and yelling that he didn’t want a “Stupid” cat.

I finished the application, and the woman at the desk asked to talk to our whole family in the other room. We went with her and she went over our application with us. She told us that she thought we were a much better match for the cat than the other family, and she put him in a carrier for us.

Part of me felt bad for taking the cat from that other family, but I just knew this cat was going to be a perfect fit in our home, and he was. Maybe our taking him gave the other family a chance to figure out what kind of pet they really wanted.

Munk ended up being a super special cat. He loved everyone in the family. He would go sleep on my son’s bed at night, and then when my husband went to bed, Munk would move and come sleep on his feet. Munk taught us that adopting an adult cat could be even more awesome than adopting a kitten. We didn’t have to hope the kitten would grow up and be a good fit with our family. We had a ready-to-go cat that was already perfect.