Yeah, I left work early. Slacker.
Hey, I had a good reason - Tinks' adoption didn't take, and I had to drive to Smalltown to pick him up.
*sigh*
Welcome back, Tink-a-dink. And don't worry - We'll find you a home.
Ha - Did anybody catch that I originally spelled "Administrative" wrong? Secretary of the Year, right here. folks.
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8 comments:
Who couldn't love Tink and welcome his presence? Why would people do that?
Never mind. Rhetorical questions. Annoyed rhetorical questions.
Rhetorical questions answered here: They said he howled all the time and shredded their curtains. Neither of which he does here.
You know, I'm not saying they weren't truthful (okay YES I AM), but it really doesn't help a rescue cat's cause when people lie about why they're returning him. If they don't like the cat, or if his fur doesn't match their couch, or if their little girl wanted a girl cat, not a boy cat, I wish they'd just say so.
In other words, they didn't like the cat because he acted...wait for it...like a cat? They didn't expect Tink to engage in some frantic territory marking in a house with two other adult cats? Sounds like they really didn't have a clue about how cats establish themselves in a new setting.
Anon, I don't know what really happened at that house - all I know is that Tinks snuggled up just as close to me as he could get last night.
Even though the FC and I spent time with these people on two different occasions, explaining how to help Tinks fit in, something went wrong. And here's the thing - Because he has a foster home (me), even though the next person who adopts him will have to be told that he *supposedly* howls and climbs curtains, I can reassure them that he never did that at my house. If he was going back to a shelter, a *supposedly* howling, curtain-climbing cat would not have much of a shot at getting another chance. So that's why I get upset when people (possibly) lie about why they are returning a cat. When they make it sound worse than it was, they're not doing the cat any favors.
It's just - I like to say, "If the cat ain't happy, nobody's happy." If all parties - the people adopting, their pets, and the cat being adopted - are not happy, we'd rather have the cat back.
And we don't mind taking them back! We even give refunds! We just want everybody happy.
And I should probably mention, Tinks is a scaredy-cat. And a hider. When he feels threatened, he goes to ground in the smallest space he can find. Which is what makes their tale of a howling, curtain-shredding banshee so ... odd.
... and because I evidently cannot stop talking about this, I should point out that as a foster mom, it is very easy to fall into the "Nobody could POSSIBLY care for this cat as well as I can" trap. I try to avoid it.
But when we took Tinks to the woman's house, she asked me to hand her a nearby pet bed so she could place it closer to Tinks, and when I picked it up, there was a sewing needle lying in the bed.
Now. This can happen to anybody. Worst nightmare scenario, right? You're about to adopt a cat, and the rescue lady finds a POINTY NEEDLE in the pet bed.
Except when I showed the woman the needle and asked her where I should put it, instead of freaking out that her cats were literally SLEEPING ON NEEDLES, she was just, like, "Oh, I don't care. Just put it on the table."
THAT gave me pause.
I adopted a cat (my beloved Katie) who was dumped from her first home. Her owners had never owned a cat before. They put her litter box down in the (probably moldy and rancid) basement. And they were shocked, shocked, I tell you, when Katie didn't use it.
Trying to make a point, Katie peed in the daughter's bed.
I brought her home with me. She found the exact center of the bed and laid there. And not once in the blessed 12 years I had her did she pee any place but the box.
Ha, it’s like that show, “My Cat From Hell”. Most of the cat behavior problems on that show are solved by giving the cat what it needs – Litterboxes in accessible spots; a place where it can get away from the other animals/people in the house if there is friction; a place where it can look out a window and furniture it is allowed to get up on (who the hell wants to stay on the FLOOR all the time?); fresh food and water; scratching posts; and plenty of cat toys/activities to keep it from getting bored.
I’m always amazed by the people on that show who profess to LOVE their cats, but provide no amenities for them whatsoever. It’s, like, “Welcome to human land, cat, try to fit in.”
Of course, the show does occasionally come across the truly psychotic cat, which is also pretty entertaining. One show, the trainer dude was like, “Yeah, this cat needs meds.”
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