New Addition

We went out to eat for supper one evening last week. When we told the kids our plans, Benjamin of course chimed in really quickly that he wanted to go to Chili's (it's his FAVORITE!). The restaurant is in a little shopping complex. Dave needed to return something to one of those stores after supper, so I asked him if we could also go to the pet store a few shops down to get cat food before heading home. The kids love seeing the shelter cats they have in the pet store because they stick their fingers in the little holes in the glass and the cats come over and sniff their fingers. We headed straight over to the cats that evening and I was reading the info on one of the cats that looked a lot like our cat, Pepper. It had all my wants in a kitty: he likes to cuddle, likes other cats, and is good around kids. I couldn't believe it, but as soon as I mentioned to Dave that we should consider him, Dave was all for it. He called the shelter group and the lady said she lived five minutes away and would meet us right then. After she got there, we got to spend some time with the cat and he was great around the kids and when I picked him up, he cuddled right on my lap as happy as can be. I was sold! My sweet hubby was too (again, a very big surprise for me)! The adoption lady said that she felt really comfortable with us and our application passed all her concerns and even though you usually have to wait, we could go ahead and take him home that night!! We were all so excited! Dave wasn't happy about it, but I thought it was pretty funny that he snuggled into one of our bathroom sinks as we were getting ready for bed that night....

We discussed some different names with the kids and the only one we suggested that they both liked was Max. So we all agreed Max was a great name for our new kitty and welcomed him home. Here he is checking out Pepper.....

He looks a lot like Pepper (below).

Max is interested in Pepper and very good to her. He goes up to her and is always nice to Pepper, but Pepper isn't sold by him yet. She is interested in Max too, but when they get close to each other Pepper hisses at him. Each day she seems to hiss less and less though and they don't fight or anything, so I'm really hoping they will become friends some day! On the other hand, Zoe (our dog) couldn't be less interested in having a new cat in the house and doesn't even react really to him being around. Max must have a bad history with dogs though, because he growls and hisses whenever Zoe passes by him or he sees any dogs. The first time Max did it, Zoe ran and hid but thankfully now Zoe could care less when Max gets upset at her and just ignores Max.

The vet estimates Max is 2-3 years old. The adoption lady said he was just left at a clinic, so we don't know his history at all. We do know that he's super sweet! He cuddles with me, which is such a blessing to me as Pepper and Zoe both don't like to be picked up or held at all. He is unbelievably good with the kids. Max will sit in the living room with all of us and let all the kids come up and pet him and talk to him.

The only sad thing is he's been pretty sick. He has gastroenteritis and throws up every time he eats. So after multiple visits and calls with the vet, we think we have him on the right course to getting better. They gave him a shot to make him not vomit for 24 hours and we have him on some medicines to calm his stomach and a really specific diet and he's doing great with it and hasn't vomited in two days now. I'm really relieved! I was worried something serious was wrong with him and I'm not up for losing another pet yet.

I know the story above of how we got Max is pretty long, but I had to document it because Benjamin has been so cute. At least once a day he says something like this, "Momma, I love our new cat Max. He's a great cat. Aren't you so glad I had the great idea to go to Chili's? If I didn't, we wouldn't have gone to the pet store and we wouldn't have got Max!" At supper after he told me this, he said "I know I tell you this a lot. I keep telling you because I'm so proud!"

No more pictures, please!

We are so excited to have him join our family!