Fluffy and Notso Fluffy's Story

Notso sunning himself

Pets' names: Fluffy and Notso Fluffy
Adopted by: Wendy Scruton
From: Danbury Animal Welfare Society, Bethel, Conn.

Wendy, who blogs at Notso Kitty, sent the story of her two cats, whom she adopted together several years ago. 

My name is Wendy Scruton (née Casazza) and I currently live in Boston, Mass., with my two cats and dear husband Todd. I adopted Notso and Fluffy from the Danbury Animal Welfare Society (DAWS) when I was living in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.—many years before I met Todd. I adopted them from that shelter in particular because that is where my family adopted one of our family cats that was a favorite of mine from when I was little. I entered the shelter with the game plan of getting two cats—so they could keep each other company. I took my little sister with me; she's a genuinely stoic individual at times and will not cave to the adorableness of kittens. :) I was slightly afraid of walking out of the shelter with more than two cats, but my sister was there to keep me honest!

When we went into the shelter we first viewed the room of individual older cats. None of these seemed like a natural pair for each other. We decided to look at the kitten room—though my sister warned me that TWO would be my limit. No cute third kitten would be sneaking home with me. :( In any case, they had three cute pairs of kittens in the room. But once I saw Notso Fluffy's face and he nuzzled me I completely melted.... So did my sister! Our decision was clear. We filled out the adoption paperwork, paid the small fees for their shots and upcoming "fixing," and adopted both brothers. They came with the names "Pepe" (Fluffy) and "Romeo" (Notso Fluffy)—it was clear to me that these names weren't going to suit me (or them), but I wasn't sure what to call them.

Fluffy

Notso

A few weeks go by and a few patterns started to emerge. I kept calling the cats "the Fluffy one and the Not-so Fluffy one," so eventually I found it easy to name them Fluffy and Notso Fluffy (Notso for short). Fluffy was very bashful and afraid, skittish at the slightest noise or movement toward him. He spent many hours under my boxspring or hidden inside my bedroom closet. He'd climb my clothes and sit on top of the hangers ... the poor thing! I tried to socialize him by petting him whenever I could get hold of him.... He accepted this eventually and even grew to seek it out. But he is still to this day very fearful of strangers.

Notso on the other hand is quite the attention whore. He's always looking to be petted—usually trying to insert himself into scenarios he doesn't belong, like on top of the laptop or at the dinner table. He had his share of health problems starting when he was four—he had to have the "PU" surgery. It wasn't pretty—but he seems okay now. I feed him special food and he's a little fat because he likes it too much, but the vet says he's otherwise healthy, so all is well :) We have since moved to Boston, upon which I met my husband eight years ago! Crazy how time flies ... but we now happily live and work in the Bay State with our kitties

Myself, I am quite a cat fanatic. I decided a little while ago to devote my blog, my arts and crafts, and my spare time to all things cat! I started making cat hats—and using Notso and Fluffy as the models! I sell them on Etsy at the NotsoKittyShop. My most popular is the Princess Beatrice Cat hat so far, but I am constantly coming up with new things in my spare time. Fluffy especially loves his involvement! He has really come out of his shell thanks to cat hats. :)

Fluffy is ready for any royal wedding.

---

If you adopted a pet from a shelter or rescue group and you'd like to share his or her story, please email me. I'd love to hear from you!

BeeGee's Adoption Story

BeeGee is as colorful as her toys.

Pet's name: BeeGee
Adopted by: Wendy Morse
From: The Bailey Foundation

The adoption story of BeeGee the macaw originally appeared on Wendy's website, Bags of a Feather. 

BeeGee came to live with us in August of 2007 after a long trip to Philadelphia to bring her home to start her new life with us. We adopted her from a wonderful rescue outside the city called the Bailey Foundation. Jeff Levine and his wife Pat [who have since retired] have run the rescue as a labor of love since 2004 and have given over their home and their lives to taking in parrots of all kinds and finding them new homes.

We had never taken care of a big parrot before and were both a bit intimidated by that big, black beak! We knew very little of her past life, other than she was thought to be around 30 years old, and had been confiscated in a police raid on a crack house in Philadelphia, and was taken in by a police officer involved in the raid. After a year or so went by, he realized that he could not devote the necessary time to BeeGee, and relinquished her to the Bailey Foundation. She was thought to be a male because of her impressive size. She was a wild-caught bird and had an import band on one foot. She also had a reddish-purple bruised spot on that same foot, which might have been from her capture in the jungle all those years ago.

When she arrived at our home, she went to the vet for a complete work-up and was found to be very healthy—and a female. So BeeGee was nicknamed the "Beautiful Girl." She spent a good part of the first few weeks staring out the window at the woods and trees and stream in front of our house. Her expression was one of astonishment. I wondered if she was thinking of the jungle. After a few days with us, I bent over to pick up something off the floor in front of her cage, and I swear I heard her say “pretty bird” when I bent over and pointed my behind in her direction! I have never heard it again in the three and a half years since.

She has become a very friendly parrot and will come down from the top of her cage every day for "cuddlies." She will step on my arm with one claw and hang onto the cage with the other, and gets lots of scritches and loving. Once every few days, she will be brave enough to let go and step on me with both feet. I do not force her to do anything unless she is in imminent danger or we have to go for a vet visit. She is very happy to hang out all day, chew anything wooden into little toothpicks, and interacts with both Pete and me.

BeeGee started plucking her breast feathers last summer, and she was given a complete check-up and clean bill of health that it was not related to any physical cause. We tried a vest "protector" a few days ago, and it was reduced to a very expensive "rag" within minutes. She did NOT want that thing on her, and chewed off the fringe immediately:

BeeGee is very vocal, but not much of a screamer, unless there is something like a black bear outside. At that point, the windows are in danger of shattering as the decibel level is cranked up to maximum volumes. She mostly says "Hello" in hundreds of different tones of voice, and also "What?" If the "flock" is not within her sight, she will call out "Hello, hello, hello?" until somebody responds.

She loves to eat, and especially loves walnuts and pistachios. She digs into her bean-and-veggie mix with great appetite every evening. She also gets treats left from our dinner, and pasta is her favorite thing of all. She also has developed a taste for steak and filet mignon—spoiled girl!

We have no idea how old BeeGee really is, but I think of every day as a precious  gift. We are extremely lucky to have found her, and she has found her forever home here.

Smoke, Finnegan, and Molly's Adoption Stories

Finnegan and Molly snuggling

Pets' names: Smoke, Finnegan, and Molly
Adopted by: Mary Ellen and Jeff
From: Animal Rescue League of Boston and PAWS Wakefield in Wakefield, Mass.

Mary Ellen tells the story of a cat she recently said goodbye to and explains how she found her current kitty pair. 

In February 1997, my now ex-husband and I went to the Animal Rescue League in Boston in search of a cat. As I wandered through the room full of cats in cages, my ex called me over to look at a handsome longhaired tomcat. As I walked over, though, a paw darted out from one of the cages and snagged my sweater sleeve. I looked down, and there was a sweet little black cat, with a little white spot under her chin, rubbing against the cage door and purring like mad. She had picked me, I figured, so I took her home.

Smoke was my best buddy for the next 14 years—she was with with me through my divorce from that awful ex, through moves, through happy times and bad ones. She slept next to me every night, usually using my hand as a pillow. She was clumsy, clever, goofy, and beautiful. She was never one to sit on your lap, but she liked to curl up next to me on the couch while I knitted and watched TV. When I met the man I would later marry, she sized him up and decided he was a good catch. She adored Jeff—she'd let him pick her up, dangle her upside-down, tickle her belly—all things that, if I had tried, I'd have lost a hand!

Smoke

A few months ago, in early March, I noticed a hard lump on her jaw. Jeff and I took her to the vet, who confirmed my fears: she had a squamous cell carcinoma in her jawbone, and it was fairly advanced. The vet gave us two options—do surgery, and remove almost all of Smoke's lower jaw, and then do radiation, or give her antibiotics and pain meds, keep her happy and comfortable until she wasn't able to eat anymore, and then bring her back to be put to sleep. We opted for the latter—I couldn't justify putting her through a major surgery, with all the pain and fear that would entail, when it wouldn't really prolong her life by much.

We ended up having her for a little over a month. On April 21, she let me know that she was ready to go. She wasn't interested in the chicken Jeff was roasting for dinner—and prior to her illness, she'd have been climbing his legs to get at that chicken! She was subdued, and quiet, but happy—I could tell that she was ready. We took her to the vet the next day, and I held her close and told her how much I loved her, and what a good, good cat she's been, and she went to sleep for the last time. It broke my heart, but it was the right decision to make for her.

Jeff and I knew we wanted another cat—or, even better, a pair of cats. Smoke never got along with other cats at all, so she was an only kitty. We started looking on Petfinder and found a listing for a lovely female kitty available through PAWS Wakefield, and sent an email inquiring about her. Alas, she had just been adopted, but the PAWS volunteer mentioned a pair of sibling kitties, a male and female, who needed a good home. We went to the foster home and met them, and fell in love immediately. After doing all the adoption paperwork and paying the fees, we waited for a week or so, biting our nails, until the rescue group decided we could adopt them. That afternoon, we went and picked up Finnegan, a lovely orange tabby, and Molly, a sweet calico.

Molly is a sassy little thing and is QUITE sure that she rules the house. Finnegan is sweet, and a little shy. He's more timid around Jeff—I suspect that whoever had them before the foster home was not especially kind to him. (I know they had been adopted by an older couple who returned them because they were "too rambunctious." They aren't, at all—they get their fits of kitty-crazies in the evenings, and chase each other all over the place, but what cat doesn't do that?) Finnegan sticks to me like Velcro, following me around, snuggling in my lap, sleeping next to me like a teddy bear. Molly diligently grooms Finn, washing his face and ears, and whapping him upside the head with her Paw of Doom when she thinks he needs it. They are a delight, and while they don't replace Smoke, I can't imagine life without them.

Sister and brother

Finnegan smiles

Wally's Adoption Story

Wally on the day he was adopted by Angel and Ben

Pet's name: Wally
Adopted by: Angel and Ben Carlson
From: Carrie’s Canine Rescue (New Hampshire) by way of Tennessee

You can read about the adventures of Wally and his pal LuLu at Life With LuLu. This is his adoption story:

We found our Boston Terrier, Wally, listed on Petfinder.com in September 2010. His adoption was arranged through Carrie’s Canine Rescue of New Hampshire. His original Petfinder listing is still available on Petfinder.com.

Originally named "Paulie," he and his five littermates had been turned over to a Tennessee rescue with their mother. Little did the rescue know, the puppies all had parvovirus—a virus that attacks the lining of the digestive system and causes dogs to be unable to absorb nutrients or liquids. Even though their foster mother gave them incredible intensive care, two of the six puppies did not make it. The remaining four puppies, Paulie (now our Wally), Lincoln, Bobble, Prudence, and their mother, Penny, were all spayed and neutered and placed for adoption on Petfinder.

On September 25, 2010, Wally hitched a ride on the Last Chance Highway and made the long journey from Tennessee to his new home with us in Massachusetts. It was a match made in heaven!

Wally is everything that his foster mother promised—a true lovebug, VERY loving and playful, just a really good boy! :) He's been with us almost a year now, and we couldn't imagine our lives without him. He makes every day just a little bit brighter and never fails to bring a smile to my face.

Wally at one year old