This has definitely been the Year of the Cat for the Banks household.
We took in Dusty — an adorable, young stray that was getting picked on by the other, more formidable strays — shortly after Sheryl and her cat Punkin moved into Joe’s house during the summer of 2004. He’s the most vocal cat we’ve ever met, and he carried on a conversation with us whenever he had the chance. And he certainly had more personality than many dogs we have met.
Unfortunately, after a year of marking EVERYWHERE around the house (especially as soon as the windows opened last spring), and after longer than that of Dusty and Punkin fighting, and after Punkin’s every-other-third-day of puking, and after trying every trick in the cat owner’s manual to make it all stop (Feliway, anti-anxiety drugs, behavior modification), and after considering the pros and cons of building an outdoor cat enclosure for him to enjoy (see just4cats.com for an example), on February 5th, we finally took him to a wonderful, caring cat sanctuary called Caroline’s Kids.
They will take care of him for the rest of his life, unless our living situation changes where we’re in a bigger house and/or can accommodate him going outside or unless he’s adopted. Adoption was another route we already tried; his charming good looks would initially open the door for a new owner, but his history of marking would close it again. However, as the vet and any other cat aficionado would say, he may not mark in a different living situation.
As of this moment, he’s still adjusting at the cat sanctuary, and we have been visiting him weekly to help him along. Any guilt we have felt has been assuaged by learning of other pet owners who have simply put their cat outside (not an option for our toothless, front claw-less Dusty, or any other city cat as far as anyone should be concerned who wants to call themselves humane) or worse even, put their cat to sleep for simply marking around the house.
Plus, we know that his options for life are still open in the future, either with us or with someone else. Furthermore, it is now considerably more peaceful around the house. Punkin, once irritable and anxious, no longer throws up all over the house, and has returned to being the playful only-child kitty Sheryl once knew. And Sheryl and I no longer have our daily search for urine spots throughout the house, something that would have spun out of control with a new baby.
If you would like to adopt Dusty, please do leave us a message! We miss him dearly, and though he has the company of many other friendly cats, we know that he would be happiest with a fellow talking sentient being.
