Kevin's New Friend

Kevin's New Friend

We suffered a terrible loss recently.  Kevin's beloved cat, Fall, passed away.  He had her for 16 years, and we both loved her so much.  There wasn't a mean bone in her body, and she was possibly the sweetest cat ever born.  Our hearts were--and still are--broken.

Nothing can replace a beloved pet, but our hearts are always big enough to welcome another in them.  Kevin's house just seemed so empty without our little Fall.  He was hesitant to get another cat.  He knew that he could never get one as wonderful as Fall--or as I would say Wonder-Fall.  We gently pushed him in that direction.  We were looking up cats on the Internet.  At first, he wanted a kitten--and it is a little early in the year for kittens.  In a few months, the shelters will be bursting from the seams with kittens.  If he wanted a kitten, he would have to wait.

Then, he said that he thought it would be easier to get an adult cat.  That set everyone in motion.  There are always a lot of adult cats looking for homes.

My first choice was to go to the Cleveland Animal Protective League--the APL.  They have a huge selection of cats, and Ellen has been working with them with their Trap Neuter Release program.  They also took 7 kittens and their tame mother that showed up in their yard last year and found them all homes.  

I have a particular weakness for long-haired cats.  The APL had several lovely ones to pick from.  My first choice was adopted before I could even get Kevin to commit to go and look for a cat--but they still had more.  There was one that sounded really good.  I thought I could get Kevin to go on Saturday, but he wanted to wait until Sunday after we rode.

Kevin agreed that he liked long-haired cats, too.  He was adamant that the cat should be a female, and he refused to get a black cat.  I didn't understand that--I think black cats are terrific.  I have never met one that I didn't like.  Ellen's got a black cat--and I have a black dog and a black horse.  Black animals are great!  He said he just wanted something more colorful--and the cat had to be symmetrical.  He didn't like unsymmetrical cats.

It opened at noon.  We arrived at 12:15.  They told us where the cats were.  We walked into the room, and the very first cat we saw was a long-haired, male black cat.  He saw us, stood up and walked towards us in his cage.  Kevin said, "Wow."  He was so friendly--I immediately knew that this was the cat I wanted.  I didn't know what Kevin would think--he was black--and a male!  Kevin asked the attendant if he could pet him, and they showed him how to open the cage.  The attendant looked at the card and told us he was 2 years old and that the card said he was a "Special Needs."  She couldn't say why, and that we would have to go up front to find out.

I went to look at the other cats.  They were all lovely, but not one struck me as special as this black one.  I went back to see what Kevin was doing.  He said he had to get his glasses and hurried quickly out of the room.  I continued to admire our black friend and looked at the other cats again.  Kevin didn't come back, so I grabbed the card and took it up to the front desk where I found Kevin filling out the paperwork for him!

Kevin said that he saw some people taking a picture of him, and figured he had to get him before they did.

We were very concerned about him being a "Special Needs" cat.  Would he need medicine? Shots? A special diet?   Or would he have allergies?  Maybe it was something that wouldn't matter--like a fear of dogs.  We were worried that it would be a deal breaker.

Someone came up to us and explained that she checked to see why he was a "Special Needs" cat.  It turns out that it was because he was simply a cat.  Yes, he was a cat--but he was at the City Kennels--which is only for dogs.  He had to be transferred here because he was a cat.  He needed to be at a place that could accommodate cats.

That was it--we were going to take him.

We found out that he had just arrived the day before, and since he was such a friendly cat, they put him out for adoption before he was neutered.  That day was his first day up for adoption--and he was adopted by us in just 15 minutes.  If we had come the day before, like I wanted to, he wouldn't have been available.  The stars aligned perfectly for us to find this special cat.

Unfortunately, we couldn't take him home, yet.  He still needed to be neutered.

Adult cats at the APL cost $50.00.  They have program called "Pets for the Elderly" where anyone over 60 years old gets a $50.00 discount on all adoptions.  Not only did Kevin find a great cat, but he was free!

He decided to call him "Wow," since that is the first thing he said when he saw him.