I found cat. He’s Decker, a Domestic
Short Hair orange tabby male, about two years old.
He’s fixed and has all his claws, but his “foster mom”
told me he was really good about only scratching his
scathing post. I went to his home earlier this
morning and spent close to an hour talking to Ellen
and Jim about Decker. I saw Decker play, and he
reminded me a lot of the orange short hair tabby my
parents own that I absolutely love.

Around 11:30 AM we went over to Petsmart to finish the
adoption. The head of the organization rejected my
adoption when I wrote one of the reasons I’d give up
the cat was “moving.” *Buzzer* — Wrong answer!
Well, if I was to move locally I’d take Decker with
me, but if I were to move back to the Northeast or the
Midwest I’d be reluctant to take a cat along.
However, Ellen and Jim told me he travels well and the
more I thought about it I started thinking of him as a
“kid” instead of a cat. Would you give your children
to an orphanage because you were moving across the
country?

So after having to explain myself to the head lady
about moving she asked while I waited a week to
finally adopt him. I told her that Decker wasn’t my
first choice and the story about Dixie. With a
shelter cat you should ask how long they have been
there, and if they say about a week you need to act
*now.* It’s going to be worse for the kitties now
that it’s kitten season. (I think its not an accident
they are called “litters.”)

I finished the application, paid the adoption fee, and
returned to Ellen’s house to pick up Decker. He could
sense something was up since he went into hiding after
we left. It was obvious that Ellen had mixed emotions
about loosing Decker. Decker wasn’t a good fit in her
home — the two other cats they had hated him — but
she didn’t want to give him up.

Decker at first was quite in the car, but then he
started to cry. It was good to hear him cry because
at least I know he was okay. I got home, set up his
food dish and litter box, then let him out of his cat
carrier. He ran around my apartment and then hid
under my bed. I’ve heard this is typical for cats.
When they show up in a new place they’ll hide for a
day or two before they feel comfortable.

I went out for a few hours in the afternoon and I
noticed that he ate some of his food. I looked under
my bed and he was still there. Then I went to the
bathroom and when I came out I saw him on the
windowsill next to my PC. I picked him up to make
sure he knew where the litter box was but he ran away
and hid as soon as I put him down. Hopefully by
tomorrow I’ll see more of him.

Later,
Joel