I adore cats and always have. For ten years, in Atlanta and Portland, I was blessed with the companionship of a brother-sister pair of cats named Romeo and Juliette. They kept me sane in difficult times. Then, when Romeo died in his tenth year, I took Juliette with me to Charlotte. We formed an especially close bond in the final five years of her life.
After her death, I moved to Seattle, where I've been cat-less for over four years. Here's what those four years have taught me:
1) We can come up with many good reasons for putting off getting a cat: I'm not home enough to take proper care of a pet...I can't afford the food and vet bills...It hurts too much to see a pet die...A cat may destroy my apartment...Etc., etc., etc.
2) If we're meant to have a cat, one day we'll know that the pros outweigh the cons. And we'll begin tackling the cons one by one: pet insurance...a better paying job with a more cat-friendly schedule...a reasonably priced pet supply store with cool toys and scratching posts...a no cat zone, if necessary, for precious clothes or papers.
3) It isn't a chore and it's more than a duty to care and look after a small, furry friend who wants nothing more than our love in return. Well, that and cool high spots to jump...delightful things to hang from...and ways to drive us delightfully nuts.
4) Finally, it's a lot worse than selfish for us to refuse to recover from the passing of a cat friend. Other cats need loving homes and deserve a place in the procession.
Cat Day will be in March for me. So far, I've found a fine place for adopting and a great pet store for supplies. I'm looking into pet insurance and my apartment building will work will allow me to spread out the pet security deposit. The main remaining task is to make my place cat-friendly, with a few good jumping spots, window seats, etc. My dressing room will be off limits when I'm at work our out.
Gender: I want a female cat.
Age: I think 1-2 years old will be best.
Name: I think I'll go with Nova unless another name comes to mind when I meet the right cat...the just-purrfect cat for a writer.
