Last November I looked up a cat at a local shelter. She was a sweet Himalayan/Siamese. And she reminded me of “Tardar Sauce” a.k.a. “The Grumpy Cat”. I felt sad, because she was approximately 8 – 10 years old. And pets at that age have it much harder to get adopted, because a lot of people have the perception that older animals are stuck in their ways. They might have never heard of: “You still can teach an old dog new tricks.”

The girls and I went to the shelter and we were almost ready to adopt the cat, when the lady at the desk told me about the adoption fees. My mouth dropped. I just couldn’t afford spaying fees and doctor fees at the same time. I was a little heartbroken. But I didn’t give up. Because I came with the mind-set that we would adopt a cat that day.

I looked in the cages, and there was a cute male Mainecoon cat sitting there and staring at me. The lady at the shelter let us look at him, to see how he behaves. He was very playful. And he showed himself from his best side. I said: “Yep, he might be the better decision!” Papers were filled out and signed. And we could take the cat home. Since his shelter name was Chewbacca, he kept his name. Hey, I’m a Star Wars fan since I was eight years old.

Since I didn’t have a cage to transport Chewbacca, we sat him in Katelynn’s lap and told her to hold on to him on his neck for safety reasons. That way he would squirm and wiggle around, while I was driving. At home I took Chewbacca from Katelynn and I walked with him into the house. Lexi was greeting us. But I forgot, not every cat is used to dogs. Chewbacca jumped towards the storm door and was shocked, because there was a dog in the house. Lexi is very outgoing, and he didn’t like that one bit. After some hissing, I told Lexi to go and called Finley. The cats got along very well, to my surprise. I called Ranger next. Ranger and Chewbacca looked at each other from a distance, and they both seemed to be alright. Ranger is a very laid-back dog. He gave Chewbacca that vibe: it’s all okay. Joshua, the “Queen”, woke up from his nap and wanted to see what this commotion was all about. “Oh hell, no! You brought another cat home??? HISS-HISS-HISS!” I could tell that Joshua was very jealous of the new cat. Finley must have thought it was very hilarious. He finally wouldn’t get attacked by Joshua as much anymore, and he can relax. I think that’s why he liked Chewbacca from the moment they crossed each other’s path.

Joshua was mad for three days. He walked by Chewbacca and hissed as badly as he could. Chewbacca gave him the look: “Dude, if I wanted to do it, I could kick your butt!” That made Joshua even more mad. The same day, Joshua must have gone too far with his bad attitude. Chewbacca gave Joshua a piece of his mind and kicked his butt. Joshua learned a valuable lesson: Don’t mess with someone, you don’t know! All cats started to get along much better. Lexi learned to be less crazy on Chewbacca. And Chewbacca doesn’t feel intimidated by her anymore.

Now, we need to work on not spilling all the water by knocking cups over. And we need to learn to stop chewing on cell phone charging cords. Other than these little “minor setbacks”, he is an awesome fur-baby.

April 2015