One Year Anniversary of Adoption

Today is the one year anniversary of the adoption of my two 4-legged kids, Pepper and Dublin, from the Humane Society of Tampa Bay.  I can hardly believe it's been that long ago.  I have a hard time remembering what life was like before they were with me.  It definitely was no where near as entertaining!  Dublin used to play so rough with Pepper.  I remember how I'd hear her growling and squealing to beat the band.  I'd try to play referee (have you ever tried to put a cat in time out? - needless to say it wasn't very successful!), but finally gave up, figuring they needed to work it out for themselves.  Now I get a kick out of watching Pepper turn the tables and chase Dublin.  I'll never forget the first time I heard his little squeaky meow of what appeared to be distress.  I go running to find out what is wrong, and Pepper has him pinned to the ground!  I turned around and tip toed out of the room, thinking to myself, you go girl!

Pepper

Pepper has always been a bit of a shy girl, but she is becoming more and more sociable.  She was about 2 years old when I adopted her.  She had previously been adopted from the Humane Society, but had been returned after about one year, supposedly due to allergies.  I would have been stocking up on a life time supply of Claritin myself.  I remember her sitting in the litter box in the cage at the Humane Society and when I came close, she rubbed her head against the glass between us like she was wanting her head scratched.  I remember thinking that she looked like a bottle of 5-peppercorn blend, so Pepper was a good name for her!  She has started to hang out with me on the couch when I read or watch TV, and sometimes she even sleeps in the bed at night, which she used to never do. 

Dublin
 
Dublin was very sociable from the very beginning.  I remember how he seemed to be trying to stick his head through the bars of the cage he was in so could get his noggin rubbed!  He was supposedly 2 years old also, but my local vet later estimated he was about 6 months old.  He had been transferred to the Humane Society from another shelter (my local vet said that was another way of saying he came from animal control).  I had planned to adopt 2 adult cats, thinking that older cats might have a harder time being adopted.  It didn't quite work out as I planned, but I wouldn't change the way it worked out for the world!  His name was Dublin when I adopted him, and considering that it was the day before St Patrick's Day and I had spent St Patrick's Day in Ireland in 2009, it seemed like fate that he should come home with me. Even though I sometimes think his name should be Tigger because of how he bounces around all the time (he isn't very graceful for a cat sometimes!), the name Dublin stuck!  At first I felt a little guilty bringing Dublin home, thinking that he would have been happy just about anywhere and that as friendly as he was, he wouldn't have had a hard time getting adopted.  However, within 48 hours of getting him home, I had him at my local vet because he ended up with a very bad upper respiratory infection, which I learned is very common in shelter cats.  He was in isolation at the vet for a week, and we weren't sure he was going to pull through.  He then had to stay in isolation at home for a week.  Poor baby.  After a $1,000 plus vet bill, I decided it had indeed been fate that brought him to me because he needed me.  I'm not sure many others would have taken the time, effort, and money to get him through those first 2 weeks he was home.

Sometimes they drive me nuts, like when Dublin trys to eat my food if I turn my back for two seconds, or when Pepper decides to claw on the carpet (still working on breaking her of that one - I miss the laminate flooring of the house in Tampa).  But my life sure has been a lot more interesting since they joined the family, and I woudn't change it for a minute!     

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