{"id":14209,"date":"2009-03-15T22:38:38","date_gmt":"2009-03-16T04:38:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/?p=14209"},"modified":"2009-03-15T22:38:38","modified_gmt":"2009-03-16T04:38:38","slug":"cat-tale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/03\/15\/cat-tale.html","title":{"rendered":"Cat tale"},"content":{"rendered":"

It took us a while to get on the road to the Denver Dumb Friends League<\/a>, the local pet shelter organization from which we got Sugar (nearly three years ago!).\u00a0 Church, then brunch, then some cleaning up after the dinner party last night, then some work on a book report …<\/p>\n

Finally, we headed out.<\/p>\n

They have the process at DDFL down to a fine science.\u00a0 Go in.\u00a0 Dogs on the right, cats (and others) on the left.\u00a0 Visit a little computerized kiosk, where, based on answers you give about your home situation, they have recommendations on what sort of cat would work best for you.\u00a0 Go through the “cattery” — clean, well-kept, plenty of human attention to the cats, plenty of chance for the more social cats to interact.\u00a0 Write down some numbers\/names of cats that look likely.\u00a0 Go back to the front, desk, passing on the short list.\u00a0 Get called (eventually) to a meeting room where you get to spend some time, one at a time, with the prospects.\u00a0 Make a decision …<\/p>\n

We knew we wanted a female cat, just to cut down on the masculine posturing (and other masculine activities) around the house, especially with Indy now ruling the roost.\u00a0 There was no choice over whether the cat would be fixed — that’s pretty much a prerequisite of getting pets from DDFL (and rightfully so).\u00a0 The main question was whether we would find one that was already spayed (which would mean we could take her home today) or that would need spaying still (which would mean taking her home Tuesday, since they don’t do that on Mondays).<\/p>\n

It being a bit before 1 p.m., most of the cats were — well, kind of sedentary.\u00a0 Those that weren’t tended to catch the eye — most of them unfixed males, alas.\u00a0 We did the rounds of the shelter area several times, coming up with a too-long list of about eight cats we wanted to see more of.<\/p>\n

This was going to be Katherine’s choice, primarily (with us along to provide some advice and, if needed, veto power).\u00a0 Her first pick, a medium-haired black-and-white pixie named Chili, was, while we were still looking around, grabbed for evaluation by another family.\u00a0 Instead, we took a look at a “large-boned” brown tabby named Honey (ironically, Katherine’s first name for Sugar).<\/p>\n

Honey was very affectionate, and weighed a ton.\u00a0 A good prospect, but there was something just a bit missing about her.\u00a0 Her size would be good in case Indy caused her problems, but …<\/p>\n

Chili was still under consideration, as was another cat from the sick ward that had caught Katherine’s eye.\u00a0 We hung out for a while.\u00a0 Eventually Chili was brought in — small, very attractive, much longer-haired than expected.\u00a0 She didn’t seem all that affectionate, though, much more interested in just plunking down on the floor.<\/p>\n

Evaluating cats like this is 80% guesswork, of course.\u00a0 Time of day, previous viewings, a dozen other factors can play a role in how a cat presents.\u00a0 But first impressions weigh heavily, and Chili, disappointingly, didn’t pass muster.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n

While we’d been waiting, we’d gone back and looked at some of the other cats on the list.\u00a0 When Chili didn’t pan out, we told Katherine she could evaluate one more. She picked Mimi, a small blue-cream tabby.\u00a0 Indeed, very small — though 2 years old, she was still more of a runt than Indy, but cute as a button and a very attractive short-hair color.\u00a0 Though the notes for her indicated she was a bit fearful, it wasn’t at all apparent in the eval room as she was vocal, explored the whole room, enjoyed petting and being picked up, but also was on the move pretty constantly.<\/p>\n

It was a hard choice, and while we offered Katherine our advice on Honey vs. Mimi, she made the decision.\u00a0 Mimi seemed to have a more rounded personality, was more attractive, and was easily picked up by Katherine.<\/p>\n

Mimi’s biggest short-term drawback was that she was unfixed.\u00a0 DDFL only spays\/neuters upon sale (which makes sense); the ones that come in that are identified as spayed or neutered is based on either history from the folks giving up their pets, or from examination.\u00a0 Katherine was reluctant to go for Mimi based on that delay, but we convinced her that, really, that was the least important factor in the long run, and she eventually agreed.<\/p>\n

So Mimi is still at the shelter, and will get spayed on Tuesday. She’s already had a microchip stuck in her shoulders, and will also be tested for various cat diseases.\u00a0 Katherine has the craft room all set up as her temporary quarters while she acclimates to us (and Indy) and vice-versa.\u00a0 And with Jim and Ginger coming to visit later in the week, that will mean lots of human company for her as she settles in.<\/p>\n

Neat.<\/p>\n

Name is as yet undetermined.\u00a0 After the frequent name changes with Sugar, we’ve decided to leave the actual naming for a few days after she arrives, once we get a better gauge of her personality.\u00a0 Given both her size and her demonstration several times of sitting up like a meerkat to peer out at things, I thought “Merely” would be cute, but I suspect we’ll end up with something more prosaic than that.<\/p>\n

I pick her up Tuesday night after work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It took us a while to get on the road to the Denver Dumb Friends League, the local pet shelter organization from which we got Sugar (nearly three years ago!).\u00a0 Church, then brunch, then some cleaning up after the dinner party last night, then some work on a book report … Finally, we headed out. … Continue reading “Cat tale”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pets"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":133027,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/03\/13\/free-cat-spaying-neutering-in-denver.html","url_meta":{"origin":14209,"position":0},"title":"Free cat spaying \/ neutering in Denver","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 13-Mar-17 2:14pm","format":false,"excerpt":"The Denver Dumb Friends League wants to expand its spaying and neutering services for cats in the metro area. With the help of some generous grants, they've opened up a special spaying \/ neutering clinic where they'll fix cats brought in for free. Their goal is to fix 10,000 more\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12427,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2008\/05\/06\/kitty_update.html","url_meta":{"origin":14209,"position":1},"title":"Kitty update","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 6-May-08 6:40am","format":false,"excerpt":"At their checkups last week, both cats showed signs of needed dental work, possibly some significant periodontal problems. The result was a return visit to the vets yesterday, complete with...","rel":"","context":"In "Pets"","block_context":{"text":"Pets","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/personal\/pets"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":133710,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/06\/20\/the-predators-amongst-us-speaking-of-cats.html","url_meta":{"origin":14209,"position":2},"title":"The predators amongst us (speaking of cats)","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 20-Jun-17 9:01am","format":false,"excerpt":"Looking at mitochondrial DNA of cats, and learning how little they've changed over the millennia. Originally shared by +Kam-Yung Soh: Keep them wild, or turn them into real doggy analogues? ;-) \"People who live with cats like to joke about how these small fuzzy creatures are still wild, basically training\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":27569,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/04\/25\/im-getting-one-but-its-for-the-cats-honest.html","url_meta":{"origin":14209,"position":3},"title":"I'm getting one, but it's for the cats. Honest","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 25-Apr-12 1:21pm","format":false,"excerpt":"This is awesome.Reshared post from +The Nerd Code #startrek #cat Where does your cat play?Google+: Reshared 1 times Google+: View post on Google+","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26095,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/02\/06\/cant-swing-a-dead-cat.html","url_meta":{"origin":14209,"position":4},"title":"Can't Swing a Dead Cat","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 6-Feb-12 3:35am","format":false,"excerpt":"The interesting thing here is that I've seen the same basic stats used to indicate how awful outdoors cats are on native bird population. The flip side is that without 'em, we'd see a lot more rodents eating things up. #ddtb Embedded Link What If All the Cats in the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":49193,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/01\/07\/are-cats-really-all-that-awful.html","url_meta":{"origin":14209,"position":5},"title":"Are cats really all that awful?","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 7-Jan-15 11:57pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Apparently not. Though there are a few areas I'd disagree on with the article.1. I'm pretty certain there's more to feline relationships than indifference or desire for food. Our cats interact with us more than just scent-marking.2. I've had indoor\/outdoor cats enough to know that they are not wholly unsuccessful\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14209"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14209\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}