Monkey

I have always wanted to have a pet, but it has just never seemed like the timing was right. I grew up with pets and really loved them. We had a Pekingese named Muffy,

a rabbit named Thumper, and a goldfish named Harley (his time with us was brief, as can often be the case with goldfish).

Aaron and I have seriously considered getting a pet on a few different occasions, but I have backed out at the last minute. It just seemed so daunting - would our cat scratch up all the furniture? Would our dog get cancer and need expensive treatments that we can't afford? I worried that maybe we just weren't ready.

Still, I continued to look on Petfinder and found a million cute dogs and cats that I wanted to adopt. Then I thought maybe it would never be the "right" time. All those furry faces won me over and I really wanted to go meet some of them in person. I needed Aaron on board, so I harped and cajoled until he broke down on New Year's Eve day. The Seattle Humane Society in Bellevue was having a promotion for the whole month of December where all adoption fees were waived.

So we hopped in the car and headed to the Eastside. When we arrived, the parking lot was packed and we could barely find a spot. We managed to squeeze in and made our way inside. It was a madhouse! Potential adopters were everywhere, shelter staff were trying to help everyone and we didn't really know where to begin.

The Seattle Humane Society has all their cats in groups, but in different little rooms. So, we decided to just start looking. I had a couple cats in mind, so we tried to locate them. We found one, a Siamese, in a larger room with about six other cats. This cat was NOT interested in us or anyone else. She hissed when we tried to touch her and wouldn't make eye contact with anyone. A few other cats seemed friendlier, but it was so chaotic with so many people and cats everywhere, that we were having a hard time making a decision. To make matters more stressful, we had New Year's Eve plans and needed to meet my family at Teatro Zinzanni at 6:30 that evening. It was already 3:30pm.

As we continued to look around, I noticed an all black cat that seemed to want to engage with us. He let me pet him and even started purring! His name was Spock and he was about one year old. Every time we came back to the room he was in, he came up to me and head butted my hand and purred. He was adorable!

We still weren't sure, though. I had kind of wanted a Ragdoll or a Siamese. I was starting to sweat. Whenever I have to make a tough decision, I perspire like crazy. Aaron suggested that we put our name on the list so that we could actually talk to a staff member. So I did.

While we waited, Aaron and I went back and forth with, "Well, do you want to adopt Spock, the black one? What about that orange cat named Garth?"

Meanwhile, Garth was adopted by the people on the list before us. So, when it was our turn, we took a leap of faith and decided that the little black kitty named Spock would be our new cat.

We adopted him, bought a cardboard carrier and some food and toys, and put him in the back of the Mini and zipped back to Seattle.

We have now had him now for three months. We changed his name to Monkey and have been getting to know each other ever since. Monkey loves food, his cat dancer toy, and watching birds. He is not afraid to be vocal with many meows when he wants a snack or some attention.
 

Now he feels like he is a part of our family and I can't imagine life without him. By being his outgoing, sometimes demanding self, Monkey was really the one that chose us.