dave

Amen. I got Tinkerbell from an adoption outfit called The Lucky Ones. Their whole deal is that they rescue cats that are about to be put down. As in, that day or that week. And she's like... the best thing in my life. I do love that cat.

We got Pickle in much the same way. She was about 8 months old when she wandered into the back yard of the webmaster for http://www.fancycats.org - and since she was obviously a stray, he took her in and cared for her. Fancy Cats put her up for adoption (they're another rescue agency, first class all the way, really great operation - if you're in the NoVA area and looking for a cat, check them out) and no one would take her. Well, Jenni and I saw her at the Fair Lakes PETsMART and thought she was adorable (though obviously having a bad day). We were looking for a buddy for Tinkerbell (having gotten her back less than a month prior, we could tell that she missed Shadow and needed another cat), and we had settled on either Pickle (who was called "Little Miss", ugh) or this other cat named, ironically enough, "LuvBug". Well, LuvBug was all friendly and loving and would have no trouble getting adopted, while Pickle was kinda shy and really needed some work. Jenni and I decided to go with Pickle because we knew LuvBug would find a good home easily and it was considerably more difficult for Pickle. So we got her, and in the eight months we've had her, she's really opened up. She's super friendly now, if a bit scared of the unfamiliar. And she sleeps on the bed with us, as all cats should.

So yeah. Adopt a cat that needs a hope. If you do your homework, you'll be every bit as happy as you would with one of these special breed cats. After all, it's what's inside that counts, right?