If your pet could talk what would be the first thing it says?

Ironically my wife and I just adopted a cat from a rescue agency. This actually came as quite a surprise…well a surprise to me. You see I thought we were done with pets. We had a cat and dog, they didn’t like each other and never became friends like you see in those cute videos of dogs and cats napping together. The dog would chase the cat if he saw her so the basement became her safe space and after the dog would go to bed she would creep up the stairs and sit in front of the wood stove luxuriating in the heat and stillness. When they both passed away within a couple of years of each other we got new carpet and re-painted everything and I thought for sure my wife was through with pet ownership.

So in yet another example of a husband never really knowing what his wife is thinking, my wife suddenly announced a couple of weeks ago that we should adopt a cat from a rescue agency. Surprise was my reaction or more likely shocked as my wife is a self described “dog person.” She came to love our first cat but getting a cat wasn’t her first choice, so getting a cat now was yes definitely a surprise.

Like most rescue pets this cat has had a difficult past. Despite being 4 years old its very small and scrawny barely weighing 7 pounds. It’s also very skittish, it doesn’t like to be picked up or held, it doesn’t purr and it rarely meows. We hope it settles into our home and becomes comfortable as it realizes that we plan to keep her.

She’s still exploring the house and finding favorite places to sit. She fits easily into window sills so as long as the weather remains warm she seems to like to lounge there. Her cat tower is a favorite napping place but she also just flops down on the floor and lays peacefully.

Previous pets we’ve had loved treats and would sit by the pantry door silently, or sometimes not so silently, demanding immediate attention to their obvious lack of treats. So far this cat doesn’t seem to be interested in treats, perhaps she will as she grows more comfortable or perhaps her disregard for our treats is an indictment of the treat itself. Cats are notoriously picky and maybe are treats are too sub-standard for her. We may have to up our treat game.

She seems to eat well and we think her scrawny condition might have been because she was one of many cats in her previous house and perhaps by the time she got to the bowl of food there was hardly any left.

We’ve yet to name her but she seems unbothered by this. She was called both Winnie and Potato Chip by previous owners. Since she’s many shades of dark brown I was thinking Coco would be appropriate but my wife is lukewarm to that.

She sleeps, she eats, she plays….she’s well on her way to living a normal cat life and if she could talk I would think perhaps she simply might say “Thanks” for finding me and giving me some normalcy and a home.

Treat you pets with love and kindness,

John