i am thinking seriously about taking in another cat (specifically this cat, whose lovely portrait you are currently viewing)
this guy showed up outside my mom's new place around christmas and hung around constantly for a week or two even though she wasn't even feeding him. then he disappeared. we hoped he had gone home, but this month he showed back up again. she wondered if maybe he had been abandoned by the people who used to live there. he is extraordinarily chill and friendly even to strangers
the first time he had a pretty nasty sore on the back of his head, but this time it was way worse and bigger, so she took him to the shelter vet and they took care of him (he had ear mites it turned out, so he'd done that to himself, yikes; also he hadn't been fixed, and double also he had no microchip). i saw him tuesday and he's healing up, and still surprisingly chill despite being in a cage in a room full of other cats. he started purring up a storm as soon as we showed up
anyway, well, i already have a cat, and since she's fairly skittish around other people and a pretty needy, seemingly jealous little creature, i've had difficulty previously entertaining the notion of ever getting another animal. i'm very afraid she'd hate it. but i am really leaning towards trying it and seeing what happens; a lady i spoke to down at the shelter who fosters cats seemed to think it wouldn't be as big a deal as i'm imagining (maybe a week or so of careful monitoring), and could even bring my cat out of her shell a little. and, i suppose the worst case scenario would be having to take the new guy back, which would be very sad but not the end of the world; he's such a cool cat i think he'd have no trouble finding a home.
i dunno; i'm thinking it over and still have some more time to consider it since he's got some time to heal yet anyway. and i'm traveling for a good chunk of next month, so i'd prooobably want to wait until after i'm back to start this process... (i hope they'd be willing to take care of him that long honestly)
if anyone has any experience with this, or thoughts to add, i'd love to hear them!
i have decided to take the cat, and actually i can bring him in at any time, not in a couple weeks like i thought..! he'll just have to be cone'd for another week or so until his sore heals. so i'm going to do that sometime in the middle of this week, he'll live here in my studio room for the time being until my cat acts reasonably comfortable, then i'll start trying to introduce them through the door crack. i will do my best.. . . . i hope it goes well!!
i am tentatively calling him Roland, although my other kitty went through several names before one stuck, and this might be true for him as well
