My boyfriend and I decided we wanted to adopt a cat. We both wanted some sort of animal and we have a very small townhouse with little to no yard so a dog was out of the question. I tend to not like a lot of cats, but I love kittens. My only stipulation was that we adopt a kitten so I can see how cute it was and remember that when it gets to be a big, fat, mean cat.

I started to look around, thinking we should go to a shelter and save some poor kitty from being euthenized. As it turns out, there are no shelters you can just go to adopt a cat. I found one or two that were open to the public with “adoption hours” but they all recommended that you fill out an application online prior to visiting.

I came across Furkids.org and I found an adorable kitten who I just had to have. I submitted an application early December. I asked for assistance from my boyfriend because he has actually owned a cat, whereas I had not. The questions were pretty standard and made sense – “Where will the cat sleep?”, “Will the cat be allowed outside?”, “Do you plan to declaw?”, etc. We answered all of the questions honestly and submitted our application. A few days later I received a call from Furkids and the woman was not happy. She immediately went into a tirade about declawing and was I aware of how much trauma that could cause the cat? “Of course, ” I replied, “…which is why we aren’t going to declaw”. She didn’t seem to have heard that statement or read my application because she was somehow under the impression that I did, in fact, want to chop up their cute little kitty paws.

After the Furkids incident we decided to try a couple other adoption routes, most resulted in filling out an application and the person receiving the application not liking our answers. One such application question and follow up conversation went something like this:

Question: Will the cat be indoors or outdoors?
Us: Whatever the cat chooses.
Response: WHAT????? Are you aware that it’s illegal to let cats outside without a fenced in backyard and leash? Most people think this just applies to dogs but it applies to cats too here in GA.
Us: Oh, really? We didn’t know. Okay, well that settles that, the cat will stay inside.
Response: I’ve spoken with foster parent of the cat you were looking to adopt, and I’m sorry but neither she nor I feel comfortable allowing you to adopt this cat due to the fact that this cat was rescued in an ally where he was left outside to die. I’m sorry, you cannot adopt this cat.

After that we were flabbergasted and almost gave up. FurKids.org by far had the best website , easy to navigate and great pictures, which is probably why we ended up trying it one more time. We were finally successful. We adopted two beautiful, adorable, cuddly kitties Even though they are close to 10 months old now, and no longer kitten size, I still find them cute (yay!!).

Jack and Luna