We were supposed to drive up to my parent’s place today and stay over until tomorrow when we’d bring Courtney home from her week long visit, but we ended up staying home so we could prepare for a new addition to the family. If you’ve been reading my sister’s blog at all then you already know about Melvin, the wounded cat she took in recently. Melvin was originally living at the group home that Cindy works at, but has been in my sister’s care for the past couple of weeks due to injuries he received from a possible dog encounter that didn’t go well for Melvin. He had some pretty bad wounds and Cindy spent around $300 of her own money to get him patched up at the vets even though she really couldn’t afford to do so. She already has a couple of cats, a dog, and a bird living with her and her husband in their single-wide mobile home, though, so she really didn’t have the room for another cat. I haven’t had a cat around since I moved into this apartment five years ago in part because they didn’t allow pets, but not too long ago they relaxed their standards a bit and are allowing cats and small dogs now as long as we pay an additional $150 non-refundable deposit and $15 more a month on our rent. Still, we were planning on waiting until we bought a house before we took on a pet just due to the small size of the apartment. Besides we can’t really afford to spend the $150 let alone take on the costs of food, litter, cat toys, etcetera…
...but we’re going to do it anyway. I mean, why should Cindy be the only person in the family spending money they don’t really have on pets they don’t really need? Besides, it’s probably going to be a couple more years before we’re in any shape to buy a house here in Canton and we don’t really want to live anywhere else. And I miss having a cat around. Cindy called this morning and let us know that Melvin had been checked out by the vet, the last of his stitches had been removed, and he was ready to travel. So instead of heading up to Otisville today we stayed home and checked out the brand spanking new PETsMART that just opened up within two miles of our apartment. I’d never been in one before and I have to say that I am impressed. The prices seemed reasonable enough and the staff were both friendly and helpful. I was very surprised to find out that they don’t sell cats and dogs at the store, but rather they make space available to local animal welfare groups to present cats and dogs for adoption. The store we were at today also had a representative from Pet Guardian Angels of America with an adult Golden Labrador that they had rescued and were hoping to find a good home for. This poor dog was recovering from the abuse of neglect having been kept in a small kennel for over a year and poorly fed. She was walking up to anyone in the store she could and just leaning on them so they’d pet her. I’m not as big a fan of dogs as I am cats, but if I’d had a house with a nice yard I would’ve been sorely tempted to adopt the dog to go along with the cat. Which just goes to show I’m as big an animal sap as my sister is.
Anyway, we picked up a covered litter box kit that came with a floor mat, charcoal filter, scoop, and a free 14 lb box of Scoop Away cat litter. Some Nutro Max adult cat food. A pet carrier. A food and water dish with a nice little place mat for them. A handful of inexpensive cat toys, some of which had catnip in them to help him mellow out a bit after the transition to his new home. A cat brush and nail clippers seeing as we’re going to try and turn Melvin into an indoor-only cat (being in an apartment and all). A package of cat treats. And last, but not least, a safety collar with an ID tag listing him as Melvin Jenkins with our address and phone number just in case he manages to make a dive for the doorway when we’re not paying attention. We held off on the scratching post and pet bed until we find out just how big our new pet is going to be because we realized that we don’t really know how big he is yet. We have absolutely no idea where the hell we’re going to put all this stuff in the apartment, but we’ll find someplace for it all in due time I’m sure. Or at least by Monday which is when Melvin will be coming home with Anne. Anne and I are actually feeling some anticipation at this point, but I’m sure Courtney is excited as hell right now as she’s been wanting a pet since she first came to live with me. She’s been very understanding about it all and has never made a fuss over the fact that we couldn’t have one previously, but I’m sure this is great news as far as she’s concerned.
So now I get to fully come into the blogger cliche by talking about my cat and posting pictures of him as if any of you people even give a shit. That’s OK, this cat definitely fits in with the Jenkins family. He’s a survivor and, according to Cindy at least, he manages to maintain a happy and loving attitude no matter how badly life treats him at times. That’s something I can respect and just the sort of pet this house needs.
Ingolfson Please do think about a cat. They are almost little people with fur. Our Molly is always laying on the floor near either Jay or I every night. When one of us is upstairs on the computer and the other one downstairs she will lay on the landing so she can watch both of us.
Kudos to you on your decision! I adore cats as does my girlfriend (she has like 4 or 5 of them and once we get a bigger place, we are sure to get more). And as for Petsmart, that is how all of them are, they don’t sell cats or dogs, but instead have the local animal groups display those who are ready for adoption into loving homes. Good to know even the lowliest of creatures has a place in the hearts of man