Our furry little friends: An Adoption Story

Kittens, Puppies, and Bunnies… Oh my! If you’re like me, you’ve seen the commercials for the homeless animals and wished you could do anything to change their sorrowful faces locked behind the cages. You hate to see something so innocent be so sad and lonely.

Walking into a shelter will make you wonder why you haven’t opened your heart and your home to the wonderful little fur babies. Those cute little ears and tails are just a cage door away from being in your arms.

My Pet Adoption Story

            Think about a warm, fuzzy feeling of having an animal on your lap when you come home from work. I know I did when my husband and I first considered getting an animal. We had talked about for months getting a kitten to start our little family. So, once we were done with our honeymoon, we decided to visit the local humane society to find our new furry addition.

            Walking into the door we saw many different animals from cats to dogs to bunnies. I was so excited to pet and cuddle all those adorable new friends. However, we did know what we were there for – a little kitty.

        

    We both agreed on a cat because at the time we had a small apartment. Additionally, it was important that it was a female cat because we had friends who had issues with boys who sprayed. Perusing the humane society’s website, we found a cat that we were interested in because she was a beautiful, all gray cat and had the most remarkable eyes. She also had a name that was the same as a character we enjoyed from a show together. Unfortunately, she was already adopted the day we got there.  

            After that moment, we looked around at all the other wonderful kittens. Being that it was the middle of summer, there were many, many other kittens there! We saw this beautiful gray and black stripped tabby named Muffy and we asked to meet her. They brought her in and we played with her. In the room, there were many toys and areas to climb and play. However, all she wanted to do was play with my skirt. She ran to and from between my legs. I instantly knew that we had a bond.

We confirmed our adoption of Muffy that day.

Later that week we were allowed to take her home after her spaying procedure. They gave us a call about 2 days after our initial visit and left a message on my voicemail:

Hello this is ‘so-and-so’ from the humane society, and I wanted to give you an update on your cat Muffy. Well, when we went to do the procedure to spay her we found that ‘she’ was actually a ‘he’. So we will no longer be spaying, but neutering. We wanted to let you know and to see if you still wanted to proceed with the adoption.

Now, of course, my answer to that question was yes. I didn’t care if our wonderful furry friend was a he or a she, as long as that little one loved me. That was the day Muffy became Tyko, our furry little boy.

When we got the OK that he was ready to come home, my husband surprised me by picking me up at work with him in the car too. It was the best surprise! Our cat was all mine and I couldn’t wait to go home to our apartment and cuddle my kitty all evening and forever.

He was perfect, the perfect little kitten and he was all ours.

He IS perfect, the perfect cat and he is family.

Our cat Tyko is a best friend and has become a special part of our family.  He was kind of like my practice baby because about  week after I had gotten our cat we found out we were pregnant with our first child. Tyko would sleep on my belly while my daughter was growing, softly purring and giving us lots of love. He would go through all of the toys that we had gotten for my baby shower, and slowly steal the teddy bears family pack; just like a big brother would.

 As my daughter grew up, so did our cat. He matured to a very nice ‘kid’ who watches over my children. One of my daughters first words with “kitty”, and she would point to him and be super excited because he was there. And now my son does the same as Tyko sits on the end of the couch and watches over my children playing. He’s a very mild mannered cat and he’s perfect for house in our family.

There are days where he becomes one of the children. He does something bad and get scolded just like I would my little boy and girl.  We all eat lunch and dinner together; when I give my kids their lunch he wants his lunch too. And, much like my children, Tyko wants a treat every now and then. He plays with the kids and watches over them like a big brother.

 Our life would not be the same without our cat, we are so lucky that he is a part of our lives. It’s funny how true that old adage is that “who rescued who?” Because he truly has rescued us and we’re lucky that he adopted us as part of his family too.

Stay Tuned for more on Animal Adoption Stories in this Series.