Rex was surrendered to the Arizona Humane Society on December 3rd, 2010.

I miss my cat.

He was always achy. He was always opinionated. He was always vocal.
He was just like me.
I knew how to cuddle him and he knew how to snurgle me and he’d suckle my forearm and pet me back.

We had a house of 4 cats. He was old and had a hump in his back and was 10 lbs and pendulous when we got him as a stray from Maricopa County Animal Control.

He’d act out. I got him to stay here at least 6 months longer than Dismal wanted him to. I put up a low entry litter box. I kept things clean. He’d poop in the bathtub. He’d poop in the hall. He’d look right at Dismal and squat in front of the litter box. It wasn’t daily but it was enough that Dismal was seething.

One day I found all our shoes peed on.
I cried all day under my sinuses were swollen shut and my eyes burned. Right after I found that our shoes were wet I knew he’d be gone. I went with D to take him to the humane society and we took his daughter with us. On the way home I had to pick up some Nature’s Miracle and we washed all the shoes and sprayed down walls with it incase he’d been spraying or trying to and we didn’t notice it. Halfway home his daughter asked if it was ok to go pick Rex back up now.
We told her he wasn’t going to live with us anymore. We told her we’d hoped that he’d find a house where he felt he got enough attention to suit his needs.

I knew he had a 50/50 of placement.

Our county has a ridiculous level of booming cat population and if spay and neuter issues weren’t enough to keep the shelters and rescues at capacity or over, there are numbers of people giving up their pets because of income situations and foreclosures or just leaving them outside.

I’ve been checking the AZ Humane adoption pages almost every day for more than a month just hoping that my boy was in foster or something and I’d see him up there and that he’d be ok.

I don’t think that ended up being the case and I sit here crying my eyes out again, writing this out for anyone else and hoping that by getting it out to more than just a few friends, a boyfriend and a mother than doesn’t even like cats… that maybe I’ll get a relief.
I tried private adoption on craigslist. No one was interested. He’s not a kitten. We paid for the humane society to take him and at least give him some tiny chance to be happier than he was here. Goddamn I miss my boy.
I gave them his pet steps he liked to use to get on the bed other than jumping the foot and a half rise.
I hate this.



Speaking of kitties and Craigslist dabbling…

I go to the pet section routinely and torture myself about all the pets I can’t help and looking around for a better bird cage for the parrots and I found an ad where I could help.
I ended up responding to an ad for a lady to help an elderly couple shave the mats out of their old persian cat. She was so matter that it was affecting mobility and she was so old that she’s grazing 21 years. She also has a sinus infection. Her parents are on a fixed income in a retirement trailer community. She’s so yucky right now that she’s probably going to be put down and her skin is thin enough that if cut just a tiny bit, it rips and the wound is at least 4 times as large as the initial nick.
It made me so uncomfortable because I can empathize with her male owner. He loves the baby but I know what taking her to the doctor means: At least $500 and about a 30% chance you can get another year or so out of her. She’s missing most of her teeth as well so I got gummed up pretty hard when she was super pissed and biting.
$60 for a vet visit. $30 for fluids. $50 antibiotics. $85 for tests etc.
I did leave my Skin Soother with them for her wounds. I typically use this on hairless pets after battle wounds occur.

Choices.
What a bunch of bullsh..