James
31-01-2010, 04:31 AM
A few weeks ago I announced that we were due to adopt a small furry person in the non too distant future. Well, yesterday (Saturday 30th) our plan materialised. The provisional (cattery given) name has been ‘Bella’ but this may change. She is a small tabby who has seen the rough side of life - the usual story of neglect and cruelty, finally ending up in a shelter along with many other rescued felines. I did not visit the cattery and since my wife was unable to go, my brother went first and was immediately taken by this particular, sad-faced tabby.
Our requirements were simple, any cat, any age, any sex, any disability, but no long-haired breeds because of my respiratory difficulties (result of a road traffic accident). Having placed a reserve on our selected puss, we thought things would run smoothly. Should have known they would not, could not. We were advised that said tabby was due to be speyed - OK, that was expected, What was a surprise was to later receive a telephone call to say that ‘she’ was not a ‘she’ .... the vet could not ID any female organs, but the alternative designation of ‘male’ is more of a courtesy as there are no testes either :o We were offered the option of cancelling the reservation and selecting another cat ....... we could understand their caution as some people may have backed out, but since we don’t equate a living creature with a faulty car, we said we were happy with whatever sex walked through our front door.
So ..... here we are, home complete with one little feline who spent the evening following us around the house talking loudly and refusing to use the litter tray in case we disappeared. She/he is delightful, rather thin and with a dull coat, but we know ‘Bella’ will polish up fine and settle in once she knows that she can relax and that our house is not a super-large cattery cage :)
As some of you know, we lost Dunkley, our beloved New Zealand tabby some years ago (for her pic see my intro) and we have suffered with this gap in our lives ever since. No one will ever replace what we have lost, but all cats are their own people and we hope that this new kid on the block will benefit from all that Dunkley taught us :)
Our requirements were simple, any cat, any age, any sex, any disability, but no long-haired breeds because of my respiratory difficulties (result of a road traffic accident). Having placed a reserve on our selected puss, we thought things would run smoothly. Should have known they would not, could not. We were advised that said tabby was due to be speyed - OK, that was expected, What was a surprise was to later receive a telephone call to say that ‘she’ was not a ‘she’ .... the vet could not ID any female organs, but the alternative designation of ‘male’ is more of a courtesy as there are no testes either :o We were offered the option of cancelling the reservation and selecting another cat ....... we could understand their caution as some people may have backed out, but since we don’t equate a living creature with a faulty car, we said we were happy with whatever sex walked through our front door.
So ..... here we are, home complete with one little feline who spent the evening following us around the house talking loudly and refusing to use the litter tray in case we disappeared. She/he is delightful, rather thin and with a dull coat, but we know ‘Bella’ will polish up fine and settle in once she knows that she can relax and that our house is not a super-large cattery cage :)
As some of you know, we lost Dunkley, our beloved New Zealand tabby some years ago (for her pic see my intro) and we have suffered with this gap in our lives ever since. No one will ever replace what we have lost, but all cats are their own people and we hope that this new kid on the block will benefit from all that Dunkley taught us :)