This post is in collaboration with Frontline Plus
You may have already noticed that after months of umming and ahhing, I adopted another kitty 😉 (crazy cat lady starter pack now complete!).
Miss Fleur and her new brother Seth
What really spurred me into actually choosing a cat, was when I heard that June was “adopt a shelter cat month” – and our local animal shelter had reduced the adoption fee to a tiny $20, for a cat that was already desexed, microchipped, vaccinated and registered!
Miss 19 and I decided to visit, to see if any kitty particularly “spoke” to us – because when it comes to choosing a cat, we’d heard that actually, it’s more a case of the right cat choosing YOU.
And that’s exactly what happened.
We had visited at least 20 cats (and were heartbroken that we couldn’t give homes to them all), and were in fact on our way out, when we passed one last enclosure.
Choosing a Cat: the right cat will choose YOU!
And there he was.
Seth came running towards us, miaowing an enthusiastic greeting. He rubbed up against the side of the enclosure, so of course we had to stop and give him some loving. He lapped up every little bit of attention we gave him, and we were more than halfway in love with him by the time we left.
Don’t go! You haven’t met ME yet!
But a decision like choosing a cat really needs to be a whole family affair, so the next day I dragged the hubster off to meet all the kitties.
He too was very taken with Seth, especially when Seth stood up and rested his front paws up against the hubster’s leg (with no claws!) and head butted his hand, in a bid for more pats.
Look at that funny face!
There was also a very pretty girl, Calypso, who reminded us of our own Miss Fleur, and the attendant told us that this was actually one of her favourites – because Calypso loved nothing better than being picked up and cuddled – although she wasn’t at all interested when I tried.
Seth and Calypso
We gave Mr 22 the final decision when it came to choosing a cat. Being the contrary creature he is, he of course bonded with a completely different cat, Salome, that was not on our short list! That threw a bit of a spanner in the works I can tell you. Although Seth was still cute, he wasn’t in such a rush to impress that day, so Mr 22 didn’t get to see him in action.
Ignoring Mr 22 the first time they met
In the end we paid a deposit and assured the staff we would be back on the weekend, to give one of the kitties a furever home – even if we still had no idea which cat we would actually be choosing!
Our Criteria For Choosing a Cat
So we went home and drew up a list of criteria outlining the qualities we were particularly looking for in a cat, and scored accordingly.
One of the most important to us, was choosing a cat that would be happy to be indoors only. You see, we have previously lost a cat to a paralysis tick, and so we felt being indoors was the best tick prevention for cats. Mind you, I was excited to learn recently that a combined tick and flea treatment for cats has now been released – previously, it’s only been available for dogs.
Seth and Salome topped our list, with only one point separating them. That single extra point was awarded to Salome, as I originally thought I wanted a female.
A very rough score sheet …
However, in the end it was not about us choosing a cat – the cat really did choose us. When we visited the kitties again, this time Seth did his very best to win over Mr 22. It worked!!!
In case you missed it, I introduced our new fur baby on the blog a couple of weeks ago. And don’t forget you can always follow our kitties’ adventures on the Middle Aged Mama Instagram and Facebook accounts 😉 . Perhaps it’s time I started up a separate account of their furry own, on Instagram at least?!
I swear he’s smiling in this pic!
What sort of things do you look for when choosing a cat or other pet?
Linking up with Agent Mystery Case for Worth Casing Wednesday.
Love that first pic of Seth and Fleur. Happy for you : )
They still have the occasional spat, and mostly just tolerate each other, but I am hopeful they will both settle down soon 🙂 .
We are starting to think about adopting a cat – just have to work out night time logistics. There is an existing cat door but it’s only in the screen door, not the main one of the laundry and I don’t want to have to leave a main door open all night. Husband doesn’t want it shut in the laundry with a tray, I don’t want it having the run of the house and I don’t think you’re allowed to kick them out at night anymore? Once we sort that issue out, we’ll get one.
Is your hubby hand at all? Is there any way he could instal a cat flap in the main door? Our cats are indoors all the time, though they have access to a cat patio through a cat flap out the laundry door. They have the run of the house at night except for our room – mainly because Miss Fleur likes to attack unsuspecting feet in the middle of the night!!!
He is adorable. I would love to get a second cat, a friend for Pepsi. I’m sure he misses hanging out with his brother now that we’ve moved. We are also attempting to make him a mainly indoor cat, after his previous owner let him roam the streets. Leading him to adopt us.
How can you tell if the cats will get on? Did you have much trouble introducing the two? Is there a give back clause if the cats don’t end up getting along? Our cat is a ragdoll, do we need to get another ragdoll? Anyway before I get too carried away with all the questions… I need to convince hubby. The girls are convinced of course. They also want a dog. Pepsi certainly wouldn’t like that.
Introducing two cats is hard work! We started with Seth in the garage and gradually exposed them to each other. There was a 2 week give back clause … but we are now past that so too late! We have definitely seen a few more spats this week – Fleur is very territorial of the cat patio where the litter trays are normally kept, with the result Seth would come miaowing for somebody to accompany him to the loo, especially at night (and if we ignored him, a puddle appeared elsewhere). Sigh. We now have 1 litter tray inside as well and that seems to have helped.
I’ve heard it’s easier to introduce a kitten but not sure if it’s true. One of the other “crazy cat lady bloggers”, Dr Jo, is very helpful – I’ve left posts on her FB wall a couple of times and she has responded: https://www.facebook.com/petproblemsolved/. I had so hoped our two would end up friends, but at the moment it feels like we should just be happy if they tolerate each other 🙁 .
Our dog chose us. We had no say in it 🙂
And that’s the way it should be!
Love your new lil guy!
I’ve never gotten to select a pet; they’ve all come to me!
That’s the best way I think Victoria!
I really want a kitty! We haven’t had any pets ever since our dog died over a year ago. Seth is a cutie!
It can take a while to feel ready for another pet after you’ve lost one … sounds like you might be ready to take the step Di … I look forward to hearing when you do!