Christmas Adoption

A man called me this morning about Wanda and Milton. His grandson had been been bothering him about getting a cat, so he and his wife started looking through Craigslist. When they saw my post, they realized getting two cats would be a good idea, so they could keep each other company. (I think that was their reasoning, anyway?) I told him that if he wanted to come visit, that would be great.

We met at the hospital around eleven in the morning. When I walked in to meet them, T told me that they had arrived a few minutes earlier, and that she had already brought the man back to meet with the cats. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Milton was not acting the scaredy-cat, but was rubbing up on the man like he was the greatest thing since canned food. Wanda was being her silly self, too, head-butting him and nibbling on his fingers.

His wife and grandson were waiting up front - I think he didn't want the boy's hopes to be raised by seeing the cats before they knew if they wanted to adopt them. Anyway, they all seemed to fall for their charms - Wanda grabbing on to their hands to make them pet her, Milton standing up on his hind legs to be petted. The grandson came back with the wife to visit and I was pleased to note that he didn't seem to be a pushy, grabby sort of boy. He was very gentle with the two cats, and seemed genuinely interested in having his "own" cats. (He liked all the other boarding cats as well, and was kind of freaked out by Ian and his one eye. Haha.)

I had a really good feeling about this couple. I tend to get uncomfortable inside with people I don't trust, and I didn't feel that at all with these people. And the boy, too. I've seen a lot of little kids that don't know how to behave themselves with animals, but this boy seemed quite sweet.

I explained to them about Wanda's sensitive stomach, how she needs a bland diet so she doesn't get diarrhea. They seemed fine with that. I made sure they knew that Wanda doesn't like to be picked up - loves to be petted, rubbed, to sit on your lap, but not picked up. Not sure if it's just uncomfortable or what, but some people expect a cat to be fine with anything, and I wanted them to know beforehand that she doesn't like it. But they seemed to understand that all cats are different. Also let them know that Milton doesn't like to be walked at. He runs away if you move too fast. Just something I thought they should know so they didn't think he was weird? (People are strange when it comes to reasonings why animals are "odd," when it's really something quite simple. And you never know who those people are.)

I let them take the two home today. I knew they wanted to adopt them when they asked "What's the next step?" I decided that I should go with my instinctual response and let them adopt them, and what better day than today? So they went out to buy kitty supplies while I wrote up a contract and let Ian and Milton hang out one more time. I gave them Milton's favorite bouncy ball and asked them to take home their wicker basket bed until they were completely comfortable with their new home. I didn't want to *give* them the bed, as it belongs to my cats, but I thought it would be nice to let them keep it for a couple of months so that they could retain some of the same smells as the place that's been their home for the last couple of months.

Ian's the only reason why this is hard for me. He's going to really miss playing with Milton and having the two hang out with him in the evenings. I made sure to give him some extra love tonight, but no amount of extra pettings is going to take the place of proper companionship. I hope I'll be able to take him home with me one day. Overall, I am very happy about Wanda and Milton being adopted. The two seemed like a wonderful couple, with a sweet grandson, and I truly truly truly hope that everything works out for them.