Last night I stayed up late finishing some items I made, so this morning was a late one for me. I got up around 9:00-ish. By then H was hungry and suggested we hop over to Mac's for a breakfast.
While we were sitting there, H says, "I don't know if you'll go for this, but what do you think about adopting a cat?"
Huh?
We initially got our little Min Pin, Mina, so she could keep H company during those long late nights doing paperwork. That didn't exactly go as planned. Mina likes to go to bed at 8:00 p.m., and will come get me to take her to bed. She likes to sleep on a pillow, and have lots of comfy blankets surrounding her. So...no company there.
So, I thought, sure. Why not? He's up late at night grading papers, I'm happily cuddling with Mina, so let's go for it.
First we went to PetSmart where they have adoptable cats, only we were there at 10:30 and the cat keepers don't come in until 12:00.
No big.
Next we got the address to the animal shelter in Laguna Canyon. Drove there. Found it. It's closed.
Then I tell H to call information for the Mission Viejo Animal Shelter. He gets the number. Calls. Somehow the call gets re-routed to the main Orange County Animal Shelter in Orange...
...who just happened to be having a cat-a-thon adoption drive.
By the time I missed my turn in the canyon (not an unusual event) we were in Irvine, and it was only a few more miles to the animal shelter in Orange.
When we got there I was more than a little apprehensive. If you know me at all you know that I am crazy for animals, and not only can I NOT watch Animal Planet or Discovery, or ANY show on animals because of the food chain or animal cruelty segments they are insistent on including, rodeos, circuses and animal shelters are just too much for me emotionally and are off my radar.
So as we start walking in I'm feeling my stomach tighten and my throat closing in anxiety. Then as we're making our way to the adoptable cats section, we passed the dogs.
O...M...G...!
The tears starts streaming down my face, my attitude gets (really) bad, and I start pecking at H because he won't let me take the cutest little dog home. Well, he said we could, but not a cat AND a dog. So he would let me have the dog, but no cat.
Hmm...
That's not fair. The whole point was to get H a companion since Mina was still daddy's girl by day, but all mine at night.
Okay, bad attitude still intact, but having a modicum of rationale present, we continue on to the cats.
I must say they had some gorgeous older cats and some sweet younger cats. H checked them all out, and then went back to one of them. She was so mellow and loving that she was his choice. I was secretly happy, because I really thought she was beautiful. I didn't voice an early opinion, though, as it was up to him to choose whichever cat he felt was the right fit to be his companion.
We were then directed to the front counter to get a "visitor" pass so we could interact with her to see how we all got along. While we were there, and just about one minute after we told the cashier which cat we wanted to visit, a man came in and asked for the exact same cat.
Too late. We beat you.
The visit was good. She was just as sweet as she was in her cage, mellow as ever, beautiful, AND she comes when you call her! (This is not Mina's strong suit).
Okay, done. We went back to the office, paid our fees, which were $25.00 less than expected, because she was over five years old (by a few months). We waited for her to be checked out by the vet, get her microchip, and then she was all ours.
She was a little scrappy/dusty/choppy haired, so we made one stop on the way home at the groomers and she got a nice bath and cleaning up. She had been badly matted when she arrived at the shelter, and the staff had to cut the snarls out of her fur, so she has kind of punky look right now, but the hair will grow back, and the bath did her wonders.
Here are a few pictures to document her homecoming.
"Yes, we'll take her"
"The ride home"We were a little worried about how our Min Pin would react, not being the most overly friendly kid on the block (or anywhere else). We were very happily surprised to see no bloodshed on either side, and some pretty healthy and mellow curiosity. I think it's going to be a good fit for our new Phoebe.
"First meetings" (Is it weird to have a cat that's bigger than our dog?) (And sorry for the toilet shot, but that's where they met)
"Friends"Phoebe spent her first hours cruising around checking out her new digs, and now she's enjoying being behind my file cabinets, having a little quiet time.
H and Mina trying to coax their new buddy out from behind the file cabinets.The shelter has changed quite a bit. They have lots of volunteers who walk the dogs and play with them, and although they are a "kill" shelter, they keep the dogs for as long as they have space and money to feed them, so please consider making a donation...or better yet, adopt a pet! It's a good feeling.
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