In my last post, I confessed how I was feeling lately regarding my desire to expand our family… that is, I want to have a baby and I realize I physically just can’t right now. I won’t get into too many details as to what happened between me deciding to hit publish on that post and the events of today. Let’s just say… there’s a reason we went out today and adopted a kitten.
You read that right… we adopted a kitten! Do you remember when we adopted our boys Bruce & Oliver? I can’t believe that that was just shy of a year ago! Today, we agreed on expanding our little family and went in search of a little girl to bring home.
Meet Harley!
Fun Fact: Harley is named after Harleen Frances Quinzel also known as “Harley Quinn”. This continues the tradition of naming our cats after characters from the DC universe (ie Bruce for Bruce Wayne aka Batman, and Oliver for Oliver Queen aka The Arrow).
We adopted this little girl from Charleston Animal Society. You may remember hearing about their adoption center because they have been treating Caitlyn, the dog found here in North Charleston, SC with her muzzle taped shut. Charleston Animal Society is no-kill shelter and I’m really glad we chose to check them out and see what kittens they had available for adoption.
Miss Harley is very different from her big brothers who are twin, orange tabbies. She appears to be an all black kitten with a small tuft of white fur just at the top of her chest. But if you look very closely, her fur has an almost brownish tinge to it. I think as she grows up, we’ll see a very different fur color emerge.
Our little girl was born on April 26, 2015 and had her first exam on May 26th when she arrived at the shelter. She has since been spayed, tested negative for all of the bad cat ickies and is current on her vaccinations. In addition to all of that, she is microchipped – something we really need to get done for Bruce & Oliver. She comes with 30 days of pet health insurance so if she acquires a kitten cold (it was going around the shelter) they will take care of her and supply her with antibiotics. All of that, for just a $25 adoption fee. Speaking of…
The Adoption
We arrived at Charleston Animal Society (CAS) around 11:30 and we didn’t leave until around 3! It was on the one hand really nice to see how busy they were, but frustrating at the same time. We originally found a little boy who we really wanted to bring home with us, but the Volunteer couldn’t seem to tell us if he had been adopted or not. I was a bit bummed to find out that he was.
We watched as cats all around us found their furever homes and it was really a beautiful sight to see. I was pleasantly surprised to see so many kitties going home, but sad about the adult cats who were being ignored. I think next time, we need to invest in an adult cat and give one a second chance at a long and happy life with a family. I still feel kind of guilty about it.
We were pretty convinced after spending some time at Harley’s cage (she was originally named Rosie) that she was the kitten for us. She was playful, silly and not too obnoxious with the meowing (there was an incredibly vocal kitten there that I was shocked went home with someone due to how loud he was). We waited a very long time to get to use one of their “Get Acquainted Rooms” as they called them – something that was required before adoption. Even once we’d spent time with our little girl, we had to wait in line for actually adopting her.
It’s amazing the difference in price for getting Harley vs. Bruce & Oliver. While we got the boys for free on Craigslist, we paid a lot of money to get them their tests, vaccinations and neutered back in December. Definitely more than $25 per cat! Harley came with everything done and taken care of and it’s really a load off my mind. We do need to bring her to our own Vet within the next 10 days as per our adoption agreement.
Meeting The Boys
Since Bruce & Oliver were from the same litter and came to us together, we weren’t sure what would happen exactly if we brought in another cat. They aren’t exactly self-aware and I don’t think they know what to do with another cat in the house.
The boys waited patiently outside of the carrier, waiting to get to whatever it was inside. They were very curious all the while Miss Harley just wanted to hiss and make other funny kitten noises at them. So we let her out so she could explore, all while trying to keep the boys away.
She’s spent time walking around the apartment. Like with the boys when they were kittens, we’re not letting her go outside of the living room and kitchen areas. The boys are very interested. Oliver wants so badly to touch her. Bruce is staring at her… very hard. I’m a little concerned about him. He’s just a very passive cat and I don’t know what he’s thinking.
Harley has had a long day – as have we all. She’s been exploring a bit and has even played with toys and scratch pads that boys have otherwise forgotten or ignored entirely. Nice to know that someone around here appreciates the stuff I’ve bought!
Harley is taking a little cat nap! Hopefully some time alone tomorrow with the boys will help them all get it our of their systems.
Oh my gosh! She is just precious! Congratulations!
Thank you! We love her so much already. I didn’t even know she was missing from our family, but we feel a little more complete with her running around the apartment! LOL