Shagger, Cat of Action

It was two in the morning, on a dimmed tablet screen. About a month after saying goodbye to Winkie (the one-eyed wonder whose sweet demeanor triumphed over her chronic digestive difficulties, and whose fly-hunting skills belied the blindness in her remaining eye), and fourteen weeks since the passing of Shagger (the big, gray teddy bear who had been my “best furry friend” for nearly two decades), I found myself searching. Although I was still grieving for the two irreplaceable friends who had filled my life with such joy for so long, the loneliness and longing for feline companionship was starting to outweigh my sadness and need to mourn.

A Tale of Two Kitties

Winkie and Shagger Hanging Out Together

Winkie had joined the family after Shagger’s sister, Cali, died unexpectedly. I had adopted Winkie at a local animal shelter. She was one of a dozen cats resding in the standard metal cages ubiquitous at such establishments. (This once-typical scenario is changing. Some humane societies and other groups are building special areas in which prospective pet parents can meet with adoptable animals in a more relaxed, home-like setting.) Winkie had reached out for me as I walked toward her cage, and took notice when I started to move on after a few moments. I often say that she adopted me.

Shagger grudgingly allowed Winkie to live with us. Although Winkie and Shagger eventually learned to get along, they were never best buddies in the way that Shagger and his sister had been.

The Circle of Life

Fifteen years later — and about a month after losing Winkie — I was weary of a cat-less life. I thought about my options for finding new felines. I met about a dozen cats at adoption centers, where I could interact with them in person. I petted them, played with them, and held them. They were sweet, but none seemed quite right.

Cali and Shagger Wrestling

I started looking for what’s known as a “bonded pair”: two cats who are strongly attached to each other, either through blood relation or circumstance. When I’d first adopted Shagger and Cali, the two littermates had played together, snoozed together, eaten together, and groomed each other. It was utterly adorable…and all the more tragic when Cali suddenly passed away at eighteen where to buy generic propecia online months of age. Nonetheless, my memories of the two of them together seemed idyllic.

Although I planned to keep looking in person, I figured I had nothing to lose by also searching on the Web.

Exploring e-doption

Looking for pets on the Internet opens up worlds of possibilities. The virtue of virtual is the ability to search very specifically for a certain type of pet: the age, the breed, the size, and several other characteristics. Many pet adoption sites let you prescreen for such concerns as whether the new pet will “play well” with a cat or dog already in the household, or whether the new pet gets along with small children. Online pet adoption sites often offer listings from several different humane societies and animal fostering groups, increasing the chances of matching the most compatible pets and caretakers.

I bounced between several online sites, looking at pictures, reading profiles, and imagining what it would be like to have new furry faces in my life. Through the Internet, of course, I would be “meeting” the pets via the pictures and descriptions posted. Some listings had videos, showing potential pets in action.

I set the search parameters, and looked at dozens of possible cats – and one night, I found River.