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Henry finds a new home? (long.. is anyone on a dialup anymore?)
On Thursday, I'll be bringing Henry to his "foster parents".
We cuddled for a half hour on the couch tonight, and he got an extra-long session in our bedroom/quarantine with my wife and myself. As if to **** me off, as I was bringing Henry downstairs to do his time in our basement with a treat, I did my customary "holding him to sniff our other cats" (a tradition instituted only when I realized he wouldn't be staying with us). Louis of course cringed away, but when I held him up to Tiger, Tiger licked his ears and groomed his head. Little booger. Ya ya, I'm still ambivalent. But because I know Henry's such a great cat, I have high hopes that his new parents will recognize the same, and take him in whole-heartedly. I think Tiger must know on some deep level that Henry'll pose no threat very soon. Oh, and another poignant episode happened today. The three little girls who'd fostered Henry when he was a kitten (while their parents rejected having another cat indoors) stopped by this afternoon. When we first adopted Henry, they'd heard the scuttlebut that a cat matching the description of their friend had gone wild and was receiving refuge from various folks in our neighborhood. They showed up at my door and were delighted to discover we'd rescued "their" kitty. Afterward, I told them they could stop by any time to visit with him. I told them that Henry and our other kitties just couldn't get along, but that we'd found a family that was happy to adopt him. They realized this would probably be the last time they saw him (or her - they thought he was a girl and named him "Puss", they still called him by that name). They took turns hugging him, no small feat given that they were prolly 5-10 years old and Henry weighs about 17 pounds. They'd brought a favorite kitten-hood blanket and wrapped him in it while they hugged him. One of the littlest girls started crying, and we had a great talk about how some of the other kitties wandering the neighborhood would never know a warm home, but "Puss" had been saved and would be a loving family member to someone. I'm so glad they could have a final cuddle with him/her. They waved goodbye and asked if they could at least get updates on Puss's progress. I hope the new owner can send me pictures.. I'm looking forward to Henry experiencing life upstairs all the time. I'm looking forward to Louis stalking the house with no fear that Henry lurks behind every closed door. And I'm looking forward to Tiger lounging on the couch in the sunlight downstairs all afternoon. Henry's already begun to be socialized to humans. It's so funny to contrast him wih Tiger, similar genetically, but with quite different histories. Tiger has really been through a variety of stimuli - four differet co-cats with widely different pedigrees, and a youth including being a farm cat as well as travelling to the Boundary Waters area in Minnesota and meeting Paul Bunyon in Brainerd (Paul boomed out to our 3-yr-old son "I see you've brought your kitty with you!!") - Ben selected Tiger as a kitten from a feral colony on my father-in-law's property, somewhat to our surprise. We adopted Tiger, and learned later that the colony had been wiped out by disease and coyotes - so Tiger's a truly lucky refugee). Our resident cat Abbey, otherwise irritated by other cats, used to tackle kitten Tiger and subject him to an enforced grooming session. gah. I need to sleep occasionally... cats and concern for my livelihood contribute to my insomnia -- begin advertisement If anyone could use some Windows programming for a Professional practice I'd love to help you out. Otherwise, the fear of being unemployed will keep me awake for days, inflicting arbitrary rages on this newsgroup.. hehe /end advertisement gah again. Back to the topic at hand... 20,000 cats euthanized in our area every year. This year it will be 19,999. Sad? Yes. A reason for hope? Also, yes. BLink |
#2
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Brian Link wrote: On Thursday, I'll be bringing Henry to his "foster parents". In addition to coming to terms with your impending separation, you planted some seeds today. Those girls may well grow up to foster homeless kits - all because you explained why one needs to do so. Good job! -L. |
#3
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"Brian Link" wrote in message ... On Thursday, I'll be bringing Henry to his "foster parents". BLink Brian, you have done a wonderful thing. You saved Henry from an almost certain (and possibly painful) death. You started him on the path to socialization. You made it possible for him to start life all over again with loving parents who can give him time and attention. And you gave first consideration to the welfare of your current cats. In short, "you done good"! MaryL |
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