Tuesday, December 14, 2010

We got a cat (and no one was killed)

We are the proud adoptive parents of a brand new cat. "Oreo" is her official name; however we will likely call her "Kitty." Almost all of our cats have been known as Kitty. Here she is sitting on the couch with "mom."

This was quite the ordeal trying to adopt a cat from the SPCA though. I started looking a couple weeks ago at their online information. I saw that they house some of their cats up for adoption at the local Petsmart. So last Wednesday we went to Petsmart and looked over the crop of kitties they had. Two caught our eye, and we decided to go with Oreo. She is a nine-month-old female black and white with short-hair. She was playful, and just curled up in our arms and started purring the first time we picked her up. So we went back Thursday evening and filled out the 3-page application for adoption. Then we had to call the SPCA on Friday and let them know we still wanted to adopt. On Saturday they called and informed us that 1 of the 2 references we gave them was not available and we would have to wait until they could talk to both our references. This person happened to be in Brazil, so we gave them another reference. They called back shortly afterward and said they had talked to them and we had been approved for adoption. They asked when we wanted to pick Oreo up, and we said Monday. The girl at the SPCA said she would fax the information over immediately, and seemed all excited for us to be new cat parents. So.... Monday I was going to stop at Petsmart and pick up the cat, and then pick Jane up from work and we could go home and start our new life together. However, when I went to Petsmart I was given some sad news. I told the checkout girl I was there to pick up a cat (because there seemed to be no other employees in the store), and she notified the manager on duty. "Chuck" finally showed up, and after telling me he had to take care of something else first, he comes back and asks which cat I was there to get. I said "Oreo" and then he remembered that he was who showed her to us on Thursday. Although, he also told us on Thursday that he would "be right back," and we never saw him again. Anyway, he said he would get the paperwork, and then he comes back and says they didn't send any paperwork so I can't take the cat. I was like, "Well, they told us we could get her on Monday." He said he would call the SPCA. Except I knew that they were closed on Mondays. So he comes back and says they're closed, and says there's nothing he can do because they didn't get the paperwork. So I kinda walked away mumbling and ignoring him, because... to be perfectly honest, I was not very happy, and I didn't much care for Chuck and his work ethic (or lack thereof). So I headed to the bank to pick up Jane. I felt bad when I got there because Jane and the gang were all excited to see the new cat, and I didn't have her. I decided, though, that maybe we should go back to Petsmart and ask someone else to check for the paperwork, because Jane said the girl told her she would fax the info over "right away," so we could "get Oreo on Monday." So we went back to Petsmart, and since it was now after 5 there was a new manager on duty. I explained what happened, and "Dan" said he would go dig through some papers and see if maybe the fax had been misplaced. Sure enough, about a minute later here he comes with the fax from the SPCA. It had been there all along, and dingbat Chuck just didn't look for it. I'm glad Dan did, because it saved another 25 mile trip to pick up the cat. So... we came home with our new Kitty. She didn't make a peep the whole way home.

I don't think she likes us though. We set up her litter box in the treadmill room, and that's where we put her when we got home. I just put the cage in there and let her come out on her own. I think Jane finally coaxed her out, and we showed her the litter box, then showed her the food and water bowl in the kitchen. She was pretty scared, and just kind of slinked around between the two of us. She likes to be petted, and likes to cuddle, but she's afraid of open spaces. We sat her between us on the couch for awhile, but eventually she high-tailed it back to the treadmill room and hid underneath the treadmill. She did come out a little later and played a little, but this morning when I got up she was under the treadmill again and hasn't come out yet. I suppose she doesn't like us. That would figure.

Anyway... this is the first cat I've ever known of who actually slobbers too. She drools out the corners of her mouth. It's weird. But... hopefully she will eventually accept that we are her parents, and will one day come out and see us. Until then, we really do have a cat; it just doesn't look like it. And no Petsmart employees were harmed in the process.

Peace out; and in.

3 comments:

Tom said...

Our cat is a big chicken. I don't think I saw him the first week we had him. Even now he disappears whenever someone he doesn't know very well comes to the house. He's fine with us though. Oddly, his original owners named him Beast.

Shell said...

I had a cat who drooled...especially when he was happy.

dan said...

The cat finally came out and played - and ate something - late last night.

Glad to hear someone else's cat drooled. I don't remember ever having a cat do that before.