Before we started this whole foster adventure, Jeff and I laid out ground rules. The first and most important being we were a one dog family. A hard rule, but it made things simpler when confronted with fosters that we would otherwise love to have kept ourselves (Elmer comes to mind).
But what about a cat?
Honestly, it never occurred to us that we would ever want to keep one of the foster kittens. They only stay with us until they are old enough and weigh enough to get fixed, given shots, and put out on the adoption floor. We got Boots as a very young kitten and she was very slow to put on weight, so she has been with us weeks now. And in that time we have all fallen in love.
Relay loves to play with her. He tosses the kitty onto her back and nuzzles her belly while she paws his face. Jeff loves to cuddle with her. He lives for the evenings where we'll watch a little tv and the kitty falls asleep purring across his chest. And I love her antics. As I type this she is having an epic battle with my mouse.
And really, who could ever resist this?
Relay loves to play with her. He tosses the kitty onto her back and nuzzles her belly while she paws his face. Jeff loves to cuddle with her. He lives for the evenings where we'll watch a little tv and the kitty falls asleep purring across his chest. And I love her antics. As I type this she is having an epic battle with my mouse.
And really, who could ever resist this?
This silly thing thinks she's a dog.
Two major sticking points bring all my future cat-dog fantasies to a halt.
1. Owning a cat would limit our ability to foster... and by quite a bit. Last thing I need is to loose her like we did her sister. Relay has taught her not to fear dogs. She can run and jump at his head, she takes little bites of his food and snacks when she sees him noshing, and curls right up next to him on his bed. This is terrific... with Relay. He is mild mannered, has no food, toy, or territory aggression, and likes to cuddle sometimes. But how many Relay's are out there?
2. We love to travel. I visit my family in Jersey a half dozen times a year, we do cross country trips routinely, we visit Jeff's family in Minnesota once a year, and we travel for Jeff's job. Relay comes with us half the time, and the other half we have a small network of friends and family that could watch him. Most of our friends have dogs. None of our friends have cats.
And all this has to be decided on within the next few days, when this little Miss is due back at the pound. I could definitely use some perspective here. What do you think?
5 comments:
Cats can travel too - if you got her used to it now - she'd probably travel very well. Are your friends that watch Relay allergic to cats or serious cat haters? That would be a factor.
Unless your house is large enough to separate her from incoming fosters that do NOT appreciate felines and just want to eat them, you may want to rethink adopting her for your own. You have to ask yourself - is having this new kitty more important than fostering more dogs? Or, you could simply start fostering kitties only.
Just a few ideas there. Hopefully others will have more insight for you or someone else has "been there". Let us know what you decide. That picture of her sleeping with Relay is
A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E!!! No doubt about it - she is one beautiful kitten!
That picture is so cute. I tried to pin it but it wouldn't work so I posted on FB instead. :)
Very tough decision. I think you have the right perspective. The only real issue is will Boots really affect your ability to foster. Are there enough cat friendly dogs to foster? If there is no shortage, then I say keep the cutie pie.
~Lyvonne
Oh... that is really a tough decision! What a sweet photo - I could see how it would totally melt your heart.
I'm sure that whatever you decide will be the right call. Trust your instincts. :)
Okay, she could not be any sweeter. We have 5 foster kitties right now, but none of them have bonded with any of our permanent animals (lucky for us!) If they did, I would have a really tough time adopting them out - I can see a life long friendship between these two! We have a cat sitter that comes in to take care of our cats while we are away, and our dog stays with friends when we travel. There is always a solution :) We still foster kittens even though we have 3 cats - it's still possible! Have you seen http://www.theittybittykittycommittee.com/ - she has a resident kitty that helps her with her fosters!!
Good luck!!
haha that kitty is too damn cute! too bad i could never have cats :( stupid allergies.
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