The Cats and Jammer Kids

No, this isn't about the two little blonde cartoon kids getting into trouble- this is about pet adoption and whether it's right for you. Or me!

I'm a dog person- I like the way dogs run up to you for affection, and give you unconditional love. But we can't 'do' a dog right now. My husband is a cat person, so we considered a cat. Two actually.

A friend of mine took in two feral kittens abandoned by their mother about ten months ago. All well and good, but these boys were kept in a very cluttered porch for most of their lives, and the only socialization they had was a nightly cuddle session with my two friends. Their college-age son is severely allergic so they can't have the cats in the house, and I offered to see if they would be a good fit for us. One is named TC, the other Curious.

They brought them over the other day, and we waited expectantly, hoping to have two new members of the family to play with and cuddle. We opened their box and waited for them to come out, all smiles and willing to give them all the attention they wanted.

Unused to having any open space, all these kitties wanted was to hide- they hid from us the entire day, and I told my disappointed children we needed to let them get used to the new environment. So far they've only come out when the kids are in bed, and though they aren't aggressive, these guys aren't the cuddle cats we were lead to believe. We've had them a total of two days, and so far we've had to dismantle the front of the dishwasher to get them out of hiding, and have lost three plants due to a certain feline wanting to see out our windows.

And we know it's all TC (now dubbed Trouble Cat), because he's the leader- Curious just wants to hide and be left alone to pout.

We are also learning that cats can hide in a myriad of places we wouldn't expect a mouse to take up residence (hence my surprise when I saw a little kitty face poking out of the side of my dishwasher- how both managed to jam themselves in there I have no clue), and this morning we can't find one of them. Apparently TC found a place we haven't thought of yet.

I'm beginning to like dogs more and more at this point.

Don't get me wrong, I love animals! But you also have to gauge personality as well as the species; just because you can care for a cat, doesn't mean you can care for any cat. Or two in this case. TC and Curious don't seem to like kids and noise (something that automatically comes with kids), and that would these guys would be a bad fit for us. But we are giving them a week or two to get used to the idea. And if they're still scared, it might be best to let them go. However, I plan on talking my friends into sending them to a no-kill shelter instead of back on their porch. That's no place for two fully grown cats. They seem to like the company of adults, and somewhere quiet as well.

Frankly, we might not fit them, either!

So we'll give it another week or two and see whether we can get along. I hope so- they are really nice kitties. When they aren't trying to destroy the place!

Just as I finished this last sentence, my son found TC- in a cabinet. How he got in there was a mystery, until I looked in the back- apparently there was a hole big enough for the cat to get through. Sigh. I never realized just how small a space a feline can wedge themselves into! And just how 'catproof' my house isn't. Hopefully we can all learn together and be a good fit. I know I hope so!