At the Animal Shelter

There is no defined amount of time a person should wait to look for a new pet after the death of the previous one. It depends on the readiness of the person and one shouldn't rush into it, I think.

However, I've been feeling an emptiness in the house after the passing of Maggie the Cat a couple of weeks ago. I've been looking online at local shelters and saw a couple of possibilities, but I can't say I was ready to adopt one.

The county animal shelter is just down the hill from my house. After work today, I decided to visit the shelter and check out the two possibilities I had considered. One is a male orange tabby and the other was a female black cat. Ideally, I thought it would be nice to get them both.

I checked into the front desk and went to the cat area, a room with a line of comfy cages of cats. I arrived just in time to see a young couple filing the paperwork to adopt the orange male I'd considered. Good for him, I thought. Strangely, he was the only male cat available for adoption. The rest of the cats were female, strangely lethargic, and completely uninterested in vying for my attention.

I pet the orange male tabby as he was still in his cage and he scratched me. It was almost like he was saying, "Hands off! I'm taken!"

So I left the shelter cat-less, which is probably for the best right now. I went in the hopes of finding that cat that seemed to be a good match for me, but it didn't seem to happen.

It's okay, I'm patient.