Tuesday, August 09, 2005

How Much Is That Kitten In The Window?

Gavin and I adopted a kitten last Saturday. My cat Pepper has been lonely, which equals overeating and hanging all over me. Neither is good for either of us, so I decided that he needed a companion. We went to the Washington Area Animal Rescue League where a friend of ours works. It's a private shelter that not only receives animals, but goes to other locations across the country to rescue animals that may otherwise not have a chance. It's a great organization. They have a rigorous adoption process that I was happy to comply with.
We visited the shelter over two weekends to evaluate the animals that were available. Gavin took to Flannel immediately, but Mr. Nicholas Flann-el had a cold the first weekend fortunately, it cleared up by the time we visited the next Saturday. Flannel was friendly, not afraid of other cats, didn't mind being cuddled or danced with and didn't mind having his feet touched. This last was very important, as I was not planning to declaw him and would manually trim his nails as I do Pepper's.
We filled out the adoption paperwork and after a phone interview and home visit, we were able to bring Flannel home.

When he came home, Pepper ran and hid. Flannel was persistent.

Flannel claims the chair as his own...

Pepper remained unhappy and was quite rude to Flannel for a day and a half.

See how pale his nose is? That means that he's upset. Now they are the best of friends and tear around the house after each other. There's always cushions missing from the couch when I get home; they scatter them everywhere.