She took him into work, where they determined that he was healthy but too young to be adopted. They gave him all his shots. They gave him a cute name (Wall-E, like the Disney robot), which usually encouraged people to adopt the kittens sooner. When he was old enough, they had him neutered and moved him to the adoption area.
One problem surfaced while Wall-E was young: anything other than a prescription diet gave him diarrhea. The specialized cat food was very expensive.
At about this time, a PSR (psycho-social rehabilitation) worker began taking his young clients to Pet Haven to play with the cats for animal therapy. This PSR worker was amused that Wall-E looked like a miniature version of his own cat. He also watched many cats and kittens come and go. He saw several families choose Wall-E and then change their minds when they learned about his special diet. He saw Wall-E's price drop from $50 to $20 to $5.
After a year the PSR worker went from renting to owning a house and felt comfortable adopting a second cat. He showed his wife several of the cats he liked the most: older, calmer, and with fun or quirky personalities. They passed Wall-E's cage, where the wife exclaimed with surprise that he looked like a twin of their current cat.
As the date of the house signing approached, this couple discussed more earnestly which cat they wanted to take home to their guinea pig, 6-year-old cat, and 4 young children. The Pet Haven employees grew more excited to send one of their beloved cats home with someone they knew. The woman who found Wall-E confided to them that she would give him to them for free.
This husband and wife were both suckers for hard-luck cases. Their guinea pig was born with a broken leg. Their cat was born at a Home Depot to a feral cat, who gave birth on the top shelf on a pile of cement bags. One of the kittens had wandered off the shelf and fallen to his death, whereupon the Home Depot employees looked around, found the litter of kittens, and took them to a rescue home. So it is no big surprise that they decided to adopt Wall-E.
On September 29, 2010 we signed for our house in the morning. That afternoon Dominic signed the adoption papers for Wall-E. The woman cried, and we brought him home.
4 comments:
fun! I love cats and wish I was not allergic to them!
That's a sweet story. My kids are currently in the bidding process for a pet. Hannah and Maggie both wrote persuasive papers about our family getting a pet. They would like a dog, one my kids aren't allergic to.
what a lucky cat. i guess we won't be visiting your home anytime soon with all our fur allergies, but at least you come here from time to time.
I know those persuasive papers, Marrisse. Because of Andrew's paper in 5th grade, we ended up with a dog for a week, until our own allergies surfaced.
Emily
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