Feline family (2)

Introducing Nimbus, aka Nimby. After living here for two years we decided that the time was right to have another cat, a companion for Big H, and for us.

A privately funded and run cat shelter, "Cat Angels" was recommended and we checked them out. One bright Saturday morning we visited the "shelter". To say we were impressed with the set-up there would be an understatement.

Within seconds, literally, of sitting down a small brown tabby jumped on my lap, purring like a Detroit Diesel and immediately decided it was not going to let me get up to check out the other cats! Nimby had chosen us and already decided that we were to give her her forever home.

Nimby was eleven years old, was not in the best of health (although had been nursed and well cared for) and had been with CA for eleven months. No one, it seems, wants older cats. Well, we're seniors ourselves I reminded Gail.

After filling out questionnaires and being interviewed (we had previously been vetted), Debbie, the founder of Cat Angels, asked us to go away to discuss the pros and cons of adopting this particular kitty. We dutifully went off, had some lunch and talked about anything other than Nimby - our minds being already made up before ordering our meal!

 

After eleven months, Debbie and all the volunteers at Cat Angels, had formed an attachment to this purrfect little girl and there were quite a few tears as we took Nimby to discover her new forever home and meet her new friend Hartley.

Nimby was another "de-clawed" victim (Grrrrr!); in fact the job, presumably done when she was very young, was a botch-up. Her front right leg is deformed as a result and she still has twinges of pain from time to time.

However, she is a wonderful companion, extremely loving, so fussy with her food she only eats one brand of dried chow, keeps Hartley in line (who is twice her size), sleeps on Gail's side of the bed (but not before keeping my side warm if Gail goes to bed before me), loves sun puddles, hate thunder storms (Big H will sleep through anything), sitting on our laptops (only when we are trying to use them), helping Gail to sort out yarn and her cross-stitch floss and has just celebrated her 14th birthday.

Cat Angels are located in Cary, NC. Check them out if you can give a cat a forever home. http://www.catangelsnc.org/Default.asp

Feline family

Over the years we have been servants to many cats. In fact, with the exception of the five years we lived in Spain, neither of us have never lived without a furry feline companion.

Before moving to Spain we had to make a tough decision. There was no way we could have expected five free-roam cats to be couped up in an attico apartment - that's the reason we did not adopt a kitty there. We were just not used to having "indoor" cats. Fortunately, we found good homes for our quintet - only one of which we had had since birth - the others were all results of someone "volunteering" us to take them in.

Once we had settled in NC though, it became a different story. We have a large yard, plenty of space and trees. Ideal for cats? Maybe, but when we were at the animal sanctuary I was immediately attracted to a large eight year-old gray tabby. He had been named "Berber", apparently because he likes "messing" on the carpet and no one wanted him. "We'll take that one", I said. "You do understand that he has had other homes and his habits have brought him back here?" "We'll risk him"!

I then found out two more important facts about him. He had been de-clawed as a kitten (a barbaric practice which I would loved to see outlawed). The other fact? He had only days left until he was to be euthanized. Was I going to let my heart rule my head? You bet I was and I did!  "Hartley", for that was what we named him, was all over me. He knew for sure! However, it wasn't until we were signing the adoption papers that I noticed the clause (pun absolutely intended), that as he was claw-less (front paws) and he was only to be an indoor cat. 

Could we change our minds? Of course not. "Big H" has now been with us five years and is a healthy thirteen year-old, is stubborn, gets his own way, absolutely rules the home, will not settle (or let us settle) in the evening until he has been brushed to within an inch of his life and is renowned for his Houdini escape attempts.

Oh - does he mess our carpets? No - although we often wake up to hear him in his litter box making another attempt at "The Great Escape", although we are not sure if he's working on Tom, Dick or Harry? All we know is, he makes a lot of noise and although he tolerates us - we love him!

Hartley - what a beautiful boy.