Pet Update

My last pet update was in August when Sandy Dragon died in my hands. At the time we were left with three cats: Charlie Cat, Kitty Lucy, and Max Cat. The arrangement was not working out for us, but what can you do? When Honey Bunny (Don's mom) moved into assisted living her cat had to go someplace. She suggested returning him to EASEL, the animal shelter she had adopted him from, but Don insisted he move in with us.

When he was at EASEL, his name was Leo. When he moved in with Honey Bunny she called him Kitty. In our house, I called him Max because that is the sound he makes with his meow.

While Max was a great match for Honey Bunny, he was an awful match for us. As long as she was alive and asking about him, I was willing to put up with it. When she died in October I asked EASEL what would be involved with returning him. We decided to give it a little more time and patience. I decided we needed a 100% family agreement before returning him to EASEL.

Last week the patience wore out. Kitty Lucy was already insisting her meals be delivered to her in Ashley's bedroom, mind you Ashley does not eat in her bedroom. She was also taking a short cut through the hole between rooms (where we sometimes keep cameras and other breakables) to bypass Max to get to the food dish. Charlie was hiding in far corners of the house. He was clearly losing weight. Max meanwhile was enjoying the life of royalty. He took over Charlie's favorite spots, and glared at both cats until they left the food dish for him. Max continued to get larger.

They are using his old information.

It was a tough decision, but we returned him to EASEL. I have a feeling they will 
never let us adopt another cat, but it was worth it. With some guidance from Ashley, Charlie returned to his once favorite spot. He even came out of hiding when my parents were visiting. I've heard him purr more in the past week than I did in the past 8 months. Lucy is eating downstairs. I have to open the door much less often because Max is not insisting on going outside for three minutes at a time, warming up, then repeating. We are also going through much less cat food (somehow three cats ate at least twice as much as two cats).

Yes, I feel guilty. I hope he finds his forever home. Maybe with another senior who would enjoy being followed everywhere (including the bathroom), and who would like to be talked to all day long. Now it is easier to enjoy the other two.

Max/Leo update: Max had the luck of the Irish and was adopted into his "furever" home on St. Patrick's Day. At the same time the Wagner family also adopted Destiny, a one and a half year old cat whose family surrendered her when he was diagnosed with a terminal illness. 

I can't tell you what a relief it is to me that Max has a home. I heard while at EASEL he was a free roamer who greeted everyone as they came into the cat room. That sounds like him. Hoping he and Destiny get along.