THE LATEST POST
Hide Your Cats
Note: This was originally posted in 2008, but we’ve dusted it off and have revised it. The original artwork is by K Scott.
Then [Jesus] called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Mark 8.34)
My wife and I are not suitable cat owners according to the official ruling.
We expect any day now they’ll come and take our cat away. You see, two weeks ago we visited the local animal shelter to find a companion for our cat, Ginger. After saying hello to every cat, we felt drawn to one in particular, a nice grey one. I’ll call her Tina to protect her identity.
With the help of a volunteer, we brought Tina to a private play room filled with cat toys, scratching posts, feather balls, and kitty posters. There’s a big viewing window from where the staff observes you playing with the cats. They’re on the other side, watching your behavior, scribbling notes, adding to your file. Our file now says, “Do NOT give a cat to these people!”
After a satisfying play time, we decided that Tina would want to live with us. We filled out the yellow application (it’s yellow because applying for a cat is a happy time). We listed personal references, employers, details about our living arrangements, and vet information. We submitted the paperwork and told Tina we’d see her soon. We had been approved to adopt a human baby by two national governments, how hard can it be to adopt a cat?
I’ll tell you, it’s hard. We were rejected.
The official reason was that we weren’t up-to-date with Ginger’s annual physicals. And the logic goes if you’re negligent with one cat, you’ll be negligent with them all, even though Ginger is completely healthy. So now Tina will have to wait around for another family, bond with them in the play room, go through all the motions again, and I hope her little heart can take it.
Can you believe it, able to adopt a human but not a cat? We thought we’d automatically qualify for a cat adoption. We...
