measi's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- possibilities of new kittens Since yesterday afternoon, I've been thinking about the pros and cons of bringing a new kitten into the family. I talked it over with Erich, and we're already joking about how it must be a serious relationship if we're already getting cats together. :) One of the people on my PaganTBounders list (a yahoogroups list for MBTA-bound Pagans in and around Boston) just advertised that she has kittens ready to go. I dropped her an email to inquire about them. Haven't heard back. So there's a possibility. I got home, played with Colley, and thought about it some more. And then I got on IM with Erich again, and on Petfinder.org to look at cats from shelters, because I firmly believe in helping homeless cats before going and shelling out hundreds of dollars for purebred ones. And as I read through the adoption process for shelters in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island, my heart sank, because I remember the treatment I'd received at Boston area shelters a couple years ago when I was first looking for a cat, and I went with my mother. We were automatically treated as animal abusers, which was so insulting that we couldn't stay there more than a few minutes. The production just to get an animal is so rigorous (and at the same time, hypocritical... I'll get into that in a moment) that I knew that I'd never want to go into the shelter, and that actually, I *would* rather get an animal from a breeder. It's a disturbing feeling. I understand the concept behind doing a background check on potential parents. I honestly do. The concept behind it is good. The practice, however, is extremely flawed. There's a requirement in there for asking the landlord's permission. Which again, I understand to a point. But they only ask for the landlord's name and phone number. Anyone could make up a phony rental company's name, give them a cell phone number of a friend, and tell their friend to answer as if they're the landlord. How do I know this? I've seen it happen. Twice. And the person got a cat. No problems. Besides that, many of the shelters want to do a HOME check. Actually physically come over and "approve" the living quarters for the animal. And I firmly object to that as well. At the same time, I refuse to degrade myself by lying just to get an animal. It's stupid. I live in a building where officially we're not allowed to have pets, but our landlord does allow good tenants who have been there a year to have cats, as long as we put a security deposit down for the carpet. Again.. no problems there. I completely understand that. But of course, if the MSPCA called to ask if we're allowed to have pets, they WOULD say no, because officially, we're not allowed to. So after talking with Erich for a while, I called my mom for suggestions. And she said that next time I came down, we'd go to the shelter in her Pennsylvania town which does not have those silly restrictions (as she called it, selling your life away). She suggested that Erich and I drive down so we can bring Colley along with us, and we'll go looking for a kitten. She asked if I cared about breed, and no, I don't. While I love purebred cats and would LOVE another Wegie or a Maine Coon, there are so many cats out there that need homes. I love CATS. Period. Even the Siamese ones that annoy me because they are so demanding. But then the next issue comes up... what age of cat should I get? Well, I personally don't mind any. I'd adopt an adult cat, because all kittens eventually get bigger. They only stay small for a finite number of weeks. But my mom did point out something that's important-- Colley has a VERY territorial streak in him. (See my early April entries about Pico). We know he gets along with other cats--I've had kittens and young kitties around Colley before, and he just plays and romps with them. But Colley NEEDS to be the boss of the house. So getting a kitten would be better because the baby would just be used to being the beta cat, while Colley can be happy about being the alpha male. The Finn brought up a good point in my guestbook, though. Am I ready for the hyper, destructive, wild and crazy nature of a kitten? Actually, it doesn't bother me. Colley's a two-year-old, thirteen pound terror of destruction. A smaller bundle of fluff will intensify it to a point, but fortunately I don't currently own anything that's so valuable that kitten claws would ruin it forever. (I'll just keep the door to the closet closed so my clothes stay intact). Yeah, I'm ready for the insanity. In fact, I LOVE kitten insanity. And losing sleep? Heck... I don't sleep well as it is now. What's another two hours of lost sleep going to do for me? Maybe just make me start heading to bed earlier, which I need to do anyway. So I talked with mom, and told her that we'd probably come down sometime this month... just to get a long weekend in before autumn. I'll talk to Erich sometime in the next couple hours about it. And hopefully sometime later this month, there will be a baby ball of fluff entering Colley and my lives. --Mel. 09:33 a.m. - 1 August 2001 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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