it's official!

well friends, it's official... i've adopted another cat. yes, that is correct, i adopted another friend. and, i've had him for a few months. like i said, i have loads and loads of stories and things to blog. finding the time/strength is another story...

in any case, i started thinking in feb or march that i'd like a new buddy. i had been going back and forth to houston every month for 2 weeks at a time and felt terrible that otis was alone so much. i know he's just a cat, but he's a very social cat... and at that point in time, i knew dad was not going to find a cure, but i also thought that at the very least we'd have another year or two. and i didn't know how long i'd be going back and forth, i just knew that i needed and wanted to be with him and my family. so i started entertaining the idea of another cat.

i'd always pushed aside the idea of another cat b/c really, who wants to be the cat lady?! but then, i made a few decisions. 1. why am i letting other people's opinions dictate what i do or don't do? 2. why do i care so much what other people think? 3. if a guy doesn't like cats, he isn't going to like me with otis anyways and i'm not going to like him for not liking otis 4. if a guy doesn't like me with 2 cats, then we have a problem b/c i will always have pets whether that be cats and or dogs in my life. so if he doesn't like pets... well he's just not my guy. 5. dammit, my daddy is dying and i need more love in my life. so there.

i started looking in march for a new friend. i went to paws. i went to treehouse. i looked online. i knew i wouldn't adopt anyone until later in march after our trip to the turks and caicos. it wouldn't be fair to bring home a new kitty and then leave right away! i was looking for a kitty that was older, mellow-er, and likely harder to adopt. i found one that i just really liked a lot - he was 10 and had this face that was a bit goofy... i love the quirky ones! i was all set to bring him home after i got back - i'd talked to paws and was working with a fabulous adoption counselor over there... but while i was gone an older gentleman met this kitty and found his match. i was disappointed to learn that he'd been adopted, but thrilled at the same time that a long time resident of the shelter had found his home.

and so, i went back to paws to check out the new faces in the crowd. while the kittens are very very cute, they are super adoptable and otis would kill me. and truly, i don't have the energy a baby kitten needs. so we looked at allllll the rooms (this is a huge decision!!) and settled back in the older/senior kitty room. there was a very sweet calico who'd just arrived and insisted on sitting in my lap and getting my attention. she was adorable and i knew she'd go fast. there were several others i saw looking around and taking my time to talk (yes, talk), pet, and see.

And then, this big tabby caught my eye. He was just lounging on this big pouf pillow and he looked sweet. and calm. and i asked "well, who is this? how about this one? what's he like? how old is he?". she said 5 and answered my other q's as well. well, that's younger than i was thinking.... 5 is still borderline adoptable... and still fairly young. but, i crouched down and petted his head and his back. and he was all... wellllll, hello... but i'm kinda being lazy here... and so i decided to see if he'd let me hold him. i picked him up and set him on my lap. he stayed! and he seemed happy! until the little calico came back over and insisted that she needed to be loved too. and this big fella was just as sweet as could be. and he had raggedy ears that were clearly scarred... and a big big scar on his shoulder and a good scar on his neck too. i think it gives him so much character.

felix on his poufy pillow... these are pictures taken by paws.

to be honest, i wasn't sure still... how would otis react!? what would others think?! (yeah, i decided i didn't care, but it's so much easier to say that than actually feel it!).... so we decided that i would foster him. his paws name was felix.

Not my lap, but this is how we hung out too at paws

at paws

i brought felix home and he lived in the spare bedroom while getting acquainted with otis. the first 12 hours, felix hid under the green price is right chair and wouldn't come out. and i thought ohhhhhhh no... what if he's a scaredy cat and just lives under furniture! but, my mom assured me this was normal and that he'd come out of his shell... he's been through a lot! so i kept going in the room and talking to him and trying to coax him out from under the chair...

so about 12 hours or so in to the coaxing, i started to ask him if he wanted to be called felix or wanted a different name. i kinda liked felix, but i wasn't married to it. so i asked if he wanted to be a charlie... a bob... a whatever... and some reason, i asked him if he wanted to be "sam". and all of a sudden this big brown and white tabby stretches and then emerges from under the chair! so sam it is.

he spent a day or two in the room and then i let him and otis meet for brief periods... and then finally gave him free reign. after one hiss by otis, the boys started smelling each other and decided they could be cool. and just as i had hoped, they slowly began to play together, eat food together, and even share my bed. yay, friends!!

sam and otis eating together! otis looks huge by comparison, but he's all fur, i swear. sam weighed 16.5 lbs when i brought him home. otis weighs 12!

i know this is getting long, but bear with me here....

aren't they just so sweet?! they love to be close by wherever i happen to be.

then suddenly, i had to go to houston. my dad was back in the hospital. they don't like you to leave foster cats for very long so i didn't really bother to tell them i was going to be gone... oops. so shhhh. anyways, i have tremendously fabulous cat sitters that i trust and love. so they took care of the boys twice a day while i was gone.



and then i came back. fully intending to adopt my new boy sam. he and otis had become really good buddies by this point and sam is a total love. he likes to sit in my lap and get head rubs on his enormous head. but i came home on a thurs eve and then was busy all day that friday. the weekend was full as well and i thought i had plenty of time to make it official. turns out i didn't.

i woke up in the middle of the night to the boys snuggling... 

i got a call from mom that monday saying dad was back in the hospital and it was bad. really bad. and that they had decided that dad would not be doing any more treatments. the hail mary long shot had not helped and in fact it only made him worse in terms of how he felt. and while i didn't have to rush there that day, i did fly down to houston on tuesday. and this time i had to tell paws.

paws knew of my dad's situation... and they were so so supportive and wonderful. i had to tell them b/c the foster period for felix/sam was over... so we decided we would just extend the foster period and that they would continue to work with me and touch base on sam.

also at this point, carlin (nicole's carlin) was heading to chicago that friday! and since i had left in such a hurry, i hadn't had time to clean up or deal with a lot of stuff. but carlin was awesome... and it worked out so perfectly b/c once he arrived and got settled in, he was able to take care of the boys and he did such a fabulous job!! apparently sam hid from carlin for a week... until carlin started bribing him with treats and then he finally came around and realized that carlin was a pretty good dude. i'll do another post in honor of carlin... as that starts to get off topic and this is long enough!

but, in any case, i left on april 17th and didn't return to chicago until june 13th. and i am so happy that otis had a friend... and that carlin could take care of the boys and be here for them. and when i did come home, sam was a bit weary of me, but i know he recognized me... he didn't hide! it took him about a day to come back around, but then he was back to himself... wanting love, wanting to play, and wanting hang out.

sammy snoozing on one of the price is right chairs.

and so finally, finally i was able to officially adopt my sam last thursday, june 28th! it took that long once i was back b/c we had to go to the paws medical facility for him to get his heart murmur checked (don't worry, he's ok, it's a low grade one, but they wanted to be sure) and then had to set a time to go to the paws adoption facility to do the paperwork. and so, i officially adopted samuel j (just j. i liked the way it sounded). i call him sam, sammy, sammers, sam sam... and he is such a good boy. come meet him!!

Samuel J.