Kittens and puppies and pets...oh my!

So our last little stray kitten is heading off to his new home today. We couldn’t be happier about who is new parents are. J & C are both smart, funny, compassionate, animal-loving people. Kiki (or after today, Mr. Moog) is one lucky kitty.

I must say, though, that for the first time everyone in my house is sad to see one of our foster babies leave. Yes, even DH, who has bonded with Kiki in a way I never believed would happen with a cat. He is a self-proclaimed cat hater. And yet, where does Kiki sleep? Curled up next to DH, who often encourages the arrangement. Just yesterday he wondered out loud whether or not we could trick J & C into taking one of our other cats instead of Kiki. Yes, DH is going to miss the Kikster just as much as the kids and I, maybe even more. I think he’s taken as much video footage of the kitten in the last month as he has of the children. Of course Kik is pretty entertaining, in a clumsy, wide-open kitten sort of way.

I’m almost hoping that J & C’s dog will have an instant and unrelenting hatred (or maybe just an allergic reaction?) to Kiki so they’ll have to bring him back. Or maybe kitty and people personalities just won’t mesh. It happens. And we’ll make sure J & C know that Kiki has a full refund policy attached. He can return here anytime.

Sometime I’m going to sit down and try to make a list of all of the animals I’ve owned. It would be an impressive record. Everything from pregnant hamsters, birds and ferrets to chinchillas, turtles and rabbits, to cats, dogs, frogs, fish and horses. And I’ve had my share of buyer’s remorse. Actually we are having it now with our dog. It’s not the dog’s fault, really. He just needs more attention/training than we have time for right now. It makes him pissy and destructive, not to mention defiant, which are not traits I tolerate well in children or animals. With the right family, though, our dog would be a phenomenal pet. So we’ve either got to find a way to spend more time with him so he’ll stop destroying everything that he can get his teeth on or we are going to have to find a better home for him. It isn’t fair to him or us to continue on status quo.

OK, going to hang out with Kiki and wait for J to arrive. Too bad cats can’t understand English. It sure would be nice to be able to tell him about the impending changes. And to teach him my cell number so he could call if he wanted to keep in touch.