Kids and Cats

I always thought that having cats, especially our cats, would be great practice for raising babies. After all, Tazi famously gets us up for petting and/or food at 4-6 am nearly every day, occasionally throws temper tantrums, and requires a great deal of human attention practically on the level of a dog. Pookie is a little more laid back, but she has her own needs/ issues, i.e. she tends to do a lot of "comfort eating" when Tazi doesn't want to play with her, so we've always tried to accommodate (rather unsuccessfully if you've seen the size of her). Billy really wanted to adopt this stray cat (who he named Johnny Ringo) who was coming by late spring/ early summer, and who we surrendered to Angel Memorial Animal Hospital a month ago. I suggested that since it took Tazi 6 months to resume playing with toys after Pookie joined us, that perhaps bringing in another furry child would be a bad idea when we're bringing home a much less furry child, so as to avoid any negative associations for her with William. Not to mention all the work that would require - we slept in separate rooms for weeks while Tazi and Pookie worked out a cease-fire agreement. I worked my butt off trying to find Johnny a foster home *since he needs to be quarantined for 6 months because of a head wound of unknown origin* and about a week before William arrived, I thought I had the deal all sown up with a great candidate - no pets, no kids, no letting him outdoors - which was not easy, and the people at Angell were shocked. A week after we got home from the hospital I wanted to see how things had turned out. The great candidate never returned my email, and as it turned out, she never followed through with the shelter. They all adore this little guy so much that they're still trying to find a foster home (as am I) but I was so disappointed in this woman, and all the time I wasted not looking for someone else. I know it's kind of irrational, but I really felt like saving this cat's life was somehow good karma for little William, and so I'm resuming the search. The people at Angell have all been so taken with him that they are doing everything they can to avoid having to put him down, and I'm so impressed with them and him. We'll definitely remember them in our giving this year. And if anyone wants to house this kitty for 5 months, please let us know.