cat in Boulder, CO area needs home

Firstly, apologies if this is the wrong group for this sort of post. If so,
please let me know where to post this instead.

About a month ago, I adopted a cat whose owner was moving into a new
apartment. The apt only allowed one cat, and she had two. Eros lost the
draw. Unfortunately, since then, my husband has developed health problems
related to Eros, and we can't keep him.

He's currently staying at Cottonwood Kennels; if we haven't found someone by
Monday the 22nd, we'll have to take him to the BV Humane Society shelter.
They're a great shelter, but I'd rather get him adopted directly. Everyone at
the kennel adores him (after only one day!), but they all have as many pets
at home as they can handle.

Here's the flyer I put together for him, with all his vitals:

http://www.bounceswoosh.org/Eros.pdf

He got along great with his previous owner's female cat.

He does have a cloudy spot in one eye where he was scratched as a kitten.
That eye also "weeps" a little all the time, but does not bother him. We've
had it checked out by the vet. He's a playful bundle of love.

Yes, the email address in the "From:" field works.

--
monique

In article ,
enlightened us with...
Firstly, apologies if this is the wrong group for this sort of post. If so,
please let me know where to post this instead.


Did you post on petfinder?
http://www.petfinder.com/


He's currently staying at Cottonwood Kennels; if we haven't found someone by
Monday the 22nd, we'll have to take him to the BV Humane Society shelter.

He has a time limit why?

--
--
~kaeli~
A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion.
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On 2004-11-18, kaeli penned:
In article ,
enlightened us with...
Firstly, apologies if this is the wrong group for this sort of post. If
so, please let me know where to post this instead.


Did you post on petfinder? http://www.petfinder.com/

Thanks for the link.


He's currently staying at Cottonwood Kennels; if we haven't found someone
by Monday the 22nd, we'll have to take him to the BV Humane Society
shelter.

He has a time limit why?

Well, that sounds a little snarky, but that's probably because you want the
best for this cat -- as do I. The kennels are booked for Thanksgiving, and we
can't keep him in our house. There's also the minor issue of the cost per day
to keep the cat in the kennel; per day it's not much, but over the weeks it
adds up.

A friend of mine has been looking for a kitten, but she's agreed to meet Eros
this weekend. I'm hoping she'll fall in love with him, just like I did. This
would be ideal, as I could still visit him from time to time.

The boulder valley humane society is not "kitty jail," as I feared when I
first had to confront the idea of giving Eros up. I've done my research and
even spoken to the director of the shelter. They're not strictly no-kill, but
they are no-kill as long as the animal is considered adoptable, and you have
the option to request that they notify you if for some reason they decide
s/he's not, so that you can take the animal back. They have big cat rooms
where social cats can play with one another and with the toys mounted to the
walls. In short, if I can't find someone for Eros directly, I think that a
loveable scamp like him will have a very easy time finding a home through the
BV HS, and will have a better time in the company of other playful cats than
he will at the kennel. (The kennel is awesome and gives the cats lots of
chances to play and hang with people, but they don't let their boarded cats
play with one another, probably for good reason.)

Please don't lecture me about pet responsibility or about my lack of love for
this cat. It breaks my heart to have to give him up. Unfortunately, though,
I made a bad decision, and now I am trying to fix it in a way that is best for
both my family and Eros. If I had done my research properly and thought with
my brain instead of my heart, I would have a) realized that all cats are not
created equal in the allergen department and b) realized that my older cat's
temperament made her a really poor candidate for introducing a second cat into
the house. Perhaps we could have worked around point B over time, but point A
is major. I'm not going to risk my husband going to the hospital again, not
for a cat who is so loveable that everyone who gets a hug from him falls in
love. Not even if it breaks my heart.

--
monique

In article ,
enlightened us with...
On 2004-11-18, kaeli penned:
In article ,
enlightened us with...
Firstly, apologies if this is the wrong group for this sort of post. If
so, please let me know where to post this instead.


Did you post on petfinder? http://www.petfinder.com/

Thanks for the link.

Welcome.



He's currently staying at Cottonwood Kennels; if we haven't found someone
by Monday the 22nd, we'll have to take him to the BV Humane Society
shelter.

He has a time limit why?

Well, that sounds a little snarky,

You should have seen the part I deleted before I sent it.


The boulder valley humane society is not "kitty jail," as I feared when I
first had to confront the idea of giving Eros up. I've done my research and
even spoken to the director of the shelter. They're not strictly no-kill, but
they are no-kill as long as the animal is considered adoptable, and you have
the option to request that they notify you if for some reason they decide
s/he's not, so that you can take the animal back. They have big cat rooms
where social cats can play with one another and with the toys mounted to the
walls.

Ah, much more like our rescue groups here than our "humane societies". I'm
VERY glad to hear it. In Chicago, many so-called "humane societies" or
"animal shelters" are often a bunch of tiny cages with abandoned pets and
strays that get 7 days to live. We have a horrid overpopulation problem and a
ton of people who just dump their pets. The suburbs tend to be better, but
there are still more places that kill than that are exclusively no-kill (all
shelters, even "no-kill", may euthanize very sick or aggressive animals, as
they can't be rehomed).
Good luck, to both of you.

Please don't lecture me about pet responsibility or about my lack of love for
this cat.

Yeah, well, um, I deleted that part before I sent it. *EG*

--
--
~kaeli~
Who is General Failure and why is he reading my hard disk?
http://www.ipwebdesign.net/wildAtHeart
http://www.ipwebdesign.net/kaelisSpace

On 2004-11-18, kaeli penned:
In article ,
enlightened us with...

Well, that sounds a little snarky,

You should have seen the part I deleted before I sent it.

Not that I blame you. If I'd seen that post from an utter stranger and
first-time poster, I probably would have had the same reaction you did.
My parents taught me that pets are a true responsibility and member of
the family. The idea of giving up a pet cuts me to the core. When I
started dating my now-husband, he worried about being able to live with
my older cat, Oscar, and I told him that I wouldn't give her up; not so
much because of my own emotional attachment, but because she's an
extremely nervous, shy creature who takes years to warm up to anybody.
I couldn't imagine breaking her trust by handing her off and
disappearing, even if it meant losing him. Fortunately, he's had no
allergy problems with her at all. The responsibility issue is also why
we don't have a dog, despite both of us adoring them; we just don't have
schedules that would be appropriate for a dog. (Oddly enough, Oscar has
co-existed in relative peace with dogs; she apparently just can't stand other
cats. Maybe because dogs can't climb everywhere that cats can.)

Anyway, I guess I figured that it didn't matter what you folks on the ng
thought of me; what mattered was placing Eros in a loving home, and folks who
hang out on cat newsgroups seemed like a good bet. Especially with a black
cat, I worry about the motives of would-be adopters. That's another reason I
like the idea of the humane society; it's a lot more work to adopt there than
just showing up and taking the animal home with you.

The boulder valley humane society is not "kitty jail," as I feared when I
first had to confront the idea of giving Eros up. I've done my research
and even spoken to the director of the shelter. They're not strictly
no-kill, but they are no-kill as long as the animal is considered
adoptable, and you have the option to request that they notify you if for
some reason they decide s/he's not, so that you can take the animal back.
They have big cat rooms where social cats can play with one another and
with the toys mounted to the walls.

Ah, much more like our rescue groups here than our "humane societies". I'm
VERY glad to hear it. In Chicago, many so-called "humane societies" or
"animal shelters" are often a bunch of tiny cages with abandoned pets and
strays that get 7 days to live. We have a horrid overpopulation problem and
a ton of people who just dump their pets. The suburbs tend to be better, but
there are still more places that kill than that are exclusively no-kill (all
shelters, even "no-kill", may euthanize very sick or aggressive animals, as
they can't be rehomed). Good luck, to both of you.

Thanks! We need it, especially if I bawl as much as I did when I put him in
the kennel. The worst was deciding with my husband that we needed to give him
up, then looking at him. Instant waterworks. Of course, he came up to me and
put his paws on my knee, seemingly trying to figure out what was wrong or how
to comfort me. More waterworks.

I'm sure there are other, less-optimal shelters in the area, but the
particular one I'm talking about is a huge facility with an amazing variety of
programs. I should know; I attended their volunteer seminar a couple of weeks
ago, just to see if I could walk some dogs over lunch, and was amazed. My
personal favorite is "tails on trails," where people take dogs on hikes (we
live near the mountains) wearing brightly-colored "ask me about adopting this
dog!" t-shirts. They socialize pets and work hard to make less-adoptable
animals more desirable by, for example, giving difficult dogs obedience
training. High-risk animals like very young kittens or animals recovering
from surgery are fostered into homes where they can recover without the stress
of shelter life. If you're bored, you can check them out:
http://www.boulderhumane.org/

Both the kennel folks and my vet have spoken glowingly about their
facilities. The HS people also said that, if I need to use their
services for Eros, I am welcome to come play with him while he's there.

Whether or not I end up having to put Eros there (and I'd still hate to do
it), they have a donation from me coming their way, and more when I can afford
it.

Please don't lecture me about pet responsibility or about my lack of love
for this cat.

Yeah, well, um, I deleted that part before I sent it. *EG*

I've seen "*g*"; what's the "e" for?

Sorry for all the babbling; the Eros dilemma has occupied my brain pretty much
constantly for the last week. I'm pretty sure your disgust for my actions
pales before my own.

--
monique

In article ,
enlightened us with...

I'm sure there are other, less-optimal shelters in the area, but the
particular one I'm talking about is a huge facility with an amazing variety of
programs. I should know; I attended their volunteer seminar a couple of weeks
ago, just to see if I could walk some dogs over lunch, and was amazed. My
personal favorite is "tails on trails," where people take dogs on hikes (we
live near the mountains) wearing brightly-colored "ask me about adopting this
dog!" t-shirts. They socialize pets and work hard to make less-adoptable
animals more desirable by, for example, giving difficult dogs obedience
training. High-risk animals like very young kittens or animals recovering
from surgery are fostered into homes where they can recover without the stress
of shelter life. If you're bored, you can check them out:
http://www.boulderhumane.org/


Holy cow...
"We are proud to have maintained our goal of placing 100 percent of our
adoptable animals into loving homes since 1996. We make every effort possible
to rehabilitate animals that we see, helping other shelters in our community
through our supportive Animal Transfer and Foster Programs."


Please don't lecture me about pet responsibility or about my lack of love
for this cat.

Yeah, well, um, I deleted that part before I sent it. *EG*

I've seen "*g*"; what's the "e" for?

Evil.
EG = Evil Grin

Sorry for all the babbling; the Eros dilemma has occupied my brain pretty much
constantly for the last week. I'm pretty sure your disgust for my actions
pales before my own.

More than likely. Having talked to you about it, I don't have any disgust at
all. I'm sad for both of you, though.

--
--
~kaeli~
Acupuncture is a jab well done.
http://www.ipwebdesign.net/wildAtHeart
http://www.ipwebdesign.net/kaelisSpace

On 2004-11-19, kaeli penned:
In article ,
enlightened us with...

http://www.boulderhumane.org/


Holy cow... "We are proud to have maintained our goal of placing 100
percent of our adoptable animals into loving homes since 1996. We make every
effort possible to rehabilitate animals that we see, helping other shelters
in our community through our supportive Animal Transfer and Foster
Programs."

Well, you know what they say about statistics. But yeah, they seem pretty
awesome. It helps that they have a huge number of volunteers; it probably
also helps that they're in Boulder, which could probably be categorized as
"slightly left of Berkeley"; no shortage of pet-lovers here!

Sorry for all the babbling; the Eros dilemma has occupied my brain pretty
much constantly for the last week. I'm pretty sure your disgust for my
actions pales before my own.

More than likely. Having talked to you about it, I don't have any disgust at
all. I'm sad for both of you, though.

Thank you. I hope my friend will see him and fall in love with him this weekend.
It makes me slightly nervous that she has two young children, but I know he
lived with a young child before I got him, and I also know that my friend's
sister is a vet (our vet, in fact), so I'm sure she'll get an earful about
teaching kids to treat animals well.

I checked out your "About Me" section; we could quite possibly get along well
=P

--
monique

In article ,
enlightened us with...

Thank you. I hope my friend will see him and fall in love with him this weekend.
It makes me slightly nervous that she has two young children, but I know he
lived with a young child before I got him, and I also know that my friend's
sister is a vet (our vet, in fact), so I'm sure she'll get an earful about
teaching kids to treat animals well.


If he's as friendly as he seems to be based on what you've written, he'll
probably adore the attention. My Jeffrey is really friendly and he loves
kids. Even the ones who need lessons in manners.

I checked out your "About Me" section; we could quite possibly get along well
=P


*grins*

--
--
~kaeli~
Once you've seen one shopping center, you've seen a mall.
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