Just a couple of days ago I adopted a rather large cat. Cinnamon, aka Moose, is a mature kitty of 7 years and approximately 18 pounds. I found him on RescueMe.org . I am enjoying have the pitter pat, okay, who am I kidding, he sounds like a line backer running through the house, but still....I love having him around. Moose is clean, quiet and extremely loving. I am very blessed to have this little creature, whom by the way, I think can take me in a street fight.
His family had proposed this whole "foster family" thing on the rescue sight. I bought it. I was looking for a mature cat, no kittens and one that was in need of a home. I don't necessarily like shelters because of the attitudes of the do-gooders that normally work in those places. They are like the women who work at battered women's shelters, they hate men. The folks, and this is another generalization, who work at animal rescue shelters tend to hate humans and therefore make adoptions very difficult. Why? Because they can. So I thought I was doing a good thing. I would get an animal more my speed and someone would know their animal would be in a good, loving home. That is where the feel good part of this story ends.
I emailed Moose's family. The very next morning I was emailed back. We decided to speak on the phone. I spoke with, I will call her Jane, to protect her identity (although I should out her for the liar that she is) and she seemed to be a very normal, sweet Mother and Wife. We chatted a little bit about the kitty and I told her about how I lost mine a few years ago and had not wanted to adopt again until recently. I was told Cinnamon, aka Moose, was in good health, 18 pounds, was fixed and was up to date on all of his shots. Sounds good right? Wait...its gets better. I was told about his sick Mom and how Cinnamon and his brother were the only two to survive birth. How her sons allergies were really forcing them to place this foster cat they loved so dearly. My heart strings were being played like a bad fiddler at a whore house now. So now you have the picture.
Jane offered to have me come to her house, which is over 2 hours away. When I emailed her and said I couldn't get out to her house to meet Cinnamon her response was quick and decided. She offered to bring the cat here. She also professed to have "immediately connected with me" and would bring all of Cinnamon's things with her, her husband and son, just in case I really fell in love with Cinnamon. Again, huge, big, red flag that either I decided to ignore or should have my head examined to see why I didn't find this at all peculiar at the time. Anyhow, I was over joyed and thought how wonderful this family was to go through all of this extra effort to find their kitty a home
They, Jane, her husband Jeff and their son were standing in my driveway about 3 hours later. Kitty in the carrier, couple of bags of liter and some food and a tower that Moose couldn't have possibly fit into since he was say, a year old. (Insert major eye roll here)
I met Moose and he was just the sweetest, shyest little guy. I immediately fell in love with him. They stayed about 15 minutes. The vet records she said she had, she didn't. She did have the name of the vet, well maybe. She couldn't remember the vet she used for the last 7 years. Go ahead, say, "Lucien, you big dumb fuck." Go ahead, say it, I have.
So they left and Cinnamon spent the night on the bottom shelf of one of my kitchen cabinets. Looking like Adolf Hitler was after him and he was Jewish. He growled and was timid. It was sad. I made sure he had some food and water and knew where his little box was and left him to settle in. The next morning is when everything that I missed started to settle in. The questions in my mind were starting to pile up and it was not looking like this was going to be as wonderful as I thought.
Firstly, how in the hell would a mother make her children suffer through 7 years of allergies only to decide to get rid of a beloved pet, aka foster animal? Why wouldn't you know the name of the vet who fixed and gave yearly shots to said beloved family pet? Why in the hell would both husband and wife take a day off from work to rush the cat to a person they didn't even know?
I decided to call the vet on the only piece of paper I had. Moose's mothers paid receipt for Rabbies Vaccination. Freak chance, yes they knew of Cinnamon. They had treated him since birth. He was a healthy, large cat and was last seen in 2011. Yes, he was fixed and then the question of the hour was asked of me. The vet tech asked, "can you tell me why they adopted him out to you?" Stunned I gave the vet tech the same bullshit answer I was given. Allergies. She didn't buy it. I could tell by her stunned silence. "Yeah lady, I am thinking the same thing too!" I was thinking to myself.
It was at this point I got angry. I was angry because I was feeling like these people had lied, skirted around the truth and there was still something very "hinky" about this whole affair. As Cinnamon was brushing against my legs, I text Jane. The response I got wasn't so friendly this time. When I confronted her about his not being up to date on his shots, she told me he was. Lie. When I asked why his teeth were not taken care of, she said there was no problem. Again, LIES. When I asked why she lied about her kids having allergies and if they did have allergies, why wait 7 years to place the cat? I was told she didn't like my tone and click, she hung up on me. That was the last I have heard from her. I don't expect to hear from her again. Loser that she is.
I know a few things about cats. First off, I need to get Moose his shots. Not a problem. I noticed though, his teeth had a lot of plague build up on them. I also noticed his rear nails were very long. This is what clued me up to the fact he hadn't seen a vet in a while. I have since made the necessary appointments with my vet. They can do a complete screening on him and make sure he is healthy. He seems very healthy. Eats well, drinks fine and does his business in his box (thankya Jesus).
He has since come into his own a little more. Take now for instance. He is sitting beneath my chair and purring. He is extremely loving and is very sweet. He is still very shy about noises and seems to have an extreme fear of the front door. Its okay. My home is very quiet and I am sure he will settle in to a nice little routine in the coming weeks and will hopefully learn that fear is not needed here. We offer only love and really good kibble here at Chez Lucien's.
What bothers me the most about this whole affair is the fact that a grown, professional woman would stoop to lying to get rid of a cat that I obviously wanted. I am not seeing any particular behavioral problems you would think of as reasons for getting rid of an animal. Like peeing on the carpets, shredding furniture, etc. None of that has happened yet. Her husband seemed to be very unhappy with giving up the cat and the son seemed very medicated. I am happy to house, feed, love and take care of Moose. I guess only time will tell if I adopted a special needs animal or just a cat whose family was tired of him. Everything they gave me was dirty. The carrier, the little carpeted tower and the 3 food bowls. All were filthy. They even brought his liter box with dirty liter in it. These people do not strike me as a family who take care of their animals. I am more than happy to take Moose off their hands. At least I know I will provide good care for him.
So, please welcome Mr. Cinnamon, aka Moose to my home. Gift cards can be sent c/o of me, LMAO. I am excited and hopeful the two of us will make great roommates. I love forward to getting to know him and love him.
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