Never, in my wildest dreams, would I have imagined that trying to adopt a cat would be an impossible quest.
As I mentioned in my previous post, my son really wants a cat for his upcoming birthday. Really, we would all like to add a pet to our family. My son's cousin is coming for another visit in about a month, which is before my son's birthday. Our son conviced us to get the cat now, as an early birthday gift, so that his cousin will be able to see our new pet when he visits. It sounded like a great idea! I was really starting to get excited!
There are so many available cats and kittens; which one would we choose to take home with us?
Our cat quest began with a phone call to a shelter about seven miles away. I looked through their available cats and kittens online, and I couldn't imagine how we would ever be able to choose! There were at least 50 felines just waiting for happy homes!
The woman on the phone instructed me to fill out the online application, and then they would respond within 48 hours as to whether or not we were proper candidates for cat ownership.
Wow! I have had cats in my home since I was about seven-years-old; however, I didn't figure I needed to go into all of those details over the phone.
She told me to include references, which must be non-family members. If my references give us a good reccomendation, then they would call me and we would be allowd to view the cats...
WHAT??
Then, comes the real kicker. She says, "If you are allowed to view the cats and kittens, you must bring every member of your family with you, including other cats or dogs that live in the home, to spend time with the cat you have chosen.
Whoa! If the woman on the other line could've seen the face I was making, she certainly would have hung up the phone. I was polite, and held in my laughter until after I hung up the phone.
I filled out the online application.
Next, I googled another shelter. It was about seven miles away in the other direction. I printed their application and filled it all out. My son ran to the van and I followed closely behind. We were on our way to adopt a cat from the shelter!
Thanks to my GPS, we found the shelter within ten minutes. We were amazed at all of the animals. I've never seen so many cats, dogs, kittens and puppies staring at me from behind their tiny cages. It was so loud! Every dog was barking at us, as if to say, "Pick me!" The cats just sat in the backs of their cages...afraid.
I found the office and gave one of the employees our application. My son was so excited! She looked at it, and then said, "I don't think you are going to be able to adopt one of our cats."
Puzzled, I said, "Why? I filled everything out."
She replied, "Well, you checked "YES" when it asked if you were planning to declaw."
I tried to explain to her that it was a possibility that we would do a frontal declaw on our chosen cat.
She looked at us, as if she were completely disgusted, and said, "I'm getting the cat manager!"
What? I felt like I was going to the principal's office! My son kept trying to ask me what was going on but I had to tell him to be quiet and patient.
The "cat manager" came out. Immediately, she said, "I hear you are planning to declaw. You can't adopt one of our cats if your planning to declaw. Do you know anything about declawing?"
Stunned, I slowly said, "Yes, I have had my cats declawed, front only, in the past, and they have all been fine."
"Why in the world would you do something like that?" she scolded.
I believe at this point I backed up a little and said, in my more impatient voice, "My furniture!"
That made her very angry with me. She replied, "You are not a candidate to adopt here."
Well, at this point, I was convinced that I was on candid camera, and any second a film crew would come out from around the corner. Everyone would be smiling and high fiving, and there would be balloons. My husband would be there, and we would all be laughing hysterically.
That never happened.
I looked at her straight in her tiny brown eyes and said, "You mean to tell me, that I am not able to adopt one of these cats? You have 50 cats sitting here staring at me, scared to death because all of these dogs are barking at them, and I can't purchase one because I might have it's front claws removed?"
She began telling me about the dangers of declawing and how cruel it is. She couldn't believe I was even considering such a torturous act.
She started walking away from us and said, "I have your application. I'll put you on the declaw list?"
"What in the world is the declaw list?" I yelled.
She briefly turned back in our direction and said, "Sometimes we get cats turned in that have been declawed. If we do, you're on the list to be called and notified."
What the heck? In hopes of looking like a responsible cat owner, I actually wore a nice outfit to this shelter...a lot of good that did me!
My son looked up at me and his blue eyes were the size of half dollars. He whispered, "Mom, don't you think these ladies are mean?"
I assured him that we would not be adopting a cat from them.
As we were getting back into the van, I turned to look at all of those poor animals living their lives in those tiny cages. All they want is a loving home, and we wanted to provide that, and were not given the oportunity.
So, we're back to square one, which is sitting at the dining room table, on my laptop, searching for cats online.
Hopefully, in the next week or so, I'll be reporting that we have an adorable little addition to our family!
Trust me, even if we choose to declaw, he or she will be a lucky and very spoiled little furry feline!
In other news, all of the anxiety and frustration that the "cat ladies" caused me today, brought on my headaches/head sensations. I had a lot of pressure, numbness, and I just felt horrible. I called my mom and asked her to be praying for me. Unfortunately, with the headaches come anxiety. They're equally dreadful.
I got in the shower, and a song entered my mind and it goes like this:
"I cast all my cares upon You.
I lay, all of my burdens,
down at Your feet.
And anytime, I don't know
what to do
I will cast, all my cares, upon You."
I know, when my headaches were bad a couple of nights ago, I remembered another song from my childhood. That just happens, I guess.
So, I sang this song quietly for the rest of the evening. It comforted me.
It doesn't matter if I'm dealing with a simple "cat quest," or a horrible headache, the lyrics to this little song still apply.
Cast all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you.
1 Peter 5:7
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