Wednesday, February 27, 2008

An Unfit Mother?


Today J and I went to meet the kitten we want to adopt. He’s 5 weeks old, and kind of cute. (Kind of cute? Puh-lease. This kitten is INSANELY cute. But why even mention that? So are all 5-week-old kittens. I mean, seriously, is there anything as cute as a 5-week-old kitten? Ridiculous. And the kitten-cuteness factor is exponential. Two kittens are 10 times as cute as just one. Three kittens? 100 times as cute! And there were FIVE in this litter, tumbling all over each other and climbing all over us and mewing like crazy. And once they got stuck to your shirt you couldn’t get them off. They were like little mewing adorable balls of Velcro. I was so overwhelmed with cute I could barely breathe.)

But I’ve taken a look at the adoption application and now I’m worried I’m going to be rejected as an Unfit Mother! The critical issue: they want to call my vet for a reference. Now, I do have a vet, because one of my kitties got sick last year and died. But the one that didn’t die? She hasn’t been to a vet in probably 6 years. She’s incredibly healthy, and has no contact with any outside cats. She’s never going to go outside, and I just don’t see why she needs yearly vaccines. Especially because she gets so worked up about going to the vet. It just didn’t seem worth it, so we stopped doing it. Obviously I now have to take her to get updated on shots, since we want to add a new kitty to the mix.

I’m so worried that I’m going to be rejected. Rejected from trying to adopt a kitten?!? For god’s sake, what is this world coming to? You’d think after what I’ve been through I’d be an automatic lock. I just want someone to say: “What? You’ve been trying to have a baby for three years? You’ve had three miscarriages? You give yourself shots, swell up your ovaries, shuttle out tons of money, even get your belly cut open? Surely you must deserve an adorable kitten! Of course you can have one, oh motherly type woman! Here, take five.”

(I’m not even going to get into the whole “home visit” requirement listed on the application. I mean, seriously, get a grip. But I don’t think they really do that for everyone. Maybe if they just get a bad vibe off someone. The lady I’ve been talking to never mentioned it to me, and the shelter is an hour away from where I live, so I’m assuming that’s not happening. And if it does, so what? I have a home. What more do you think they require?)

9 comments:

Jen said...

I can't believe how much they require! Just remember to read the fine print and make sure they don't want your first born.

Io said...

Ack! The cuteness! I can hardly stand it - I can't imagine five of those at once. I can't imagine that you would be rejected as a furmom, but yeah, I understand why they want to make sure the kittens are going to homes where a year from now the owner will decide they wanted a kitten but not a CAT. Still, they shoudl have known you will be a great furmom on sight.

Pamela T. said...

I AM SO JEALOUS!!! I'm a huge, huge cat fan but I'm totally allergic to the cute little buggers -- sends me right into a full scale asthma attack that necessitates a trip to the ER. Ughh, ugh. ugh! I only get to live vicariously through photos. keep 'em coming!

Shinejil said...

That's insane. I can't believe you need a reference to adopt a kitten. There are tons of adorable cats at our local shelter, and they just let you have 'em (for a very reasonable fee). I'm sure you'll be able to jump through their hoops into happy kitty land.

Cats are the best.

Carrie said...

I know, it's ridiculous what they want you to go through. It's the crazy stupid people out there who don't take care of their pets and live in filth that make us responsible people have to go all of that crap.

I totally understand what you mean about the cuteness factor. I actually foster litters until their old enough to get fixed, so lately I've constantly been surrounded by so much adorableness it's not even funny.

Just for you, I'm going to post a friggin' adorable picture of my current litter on my blog. Seriously. Go check it out. I don't even know how I got this picture but it's one of my all-time favorites now!

Me said...

I'm sure you will be FINE. If they ask, just explain that your cat never goes outside, like you did in your post.

My ex-neighbour adopted 2 dogs, treated them terribly and starved them to skin and bone. I called the shelter to let them know but if they came and took the dogs THEY would get in trouble with the law. Crazy.

I WISH they had more rules like that here.

MissNoAngel (find me on Twitter) said...

Awww, SO, SOOO cute!! And, FYI, I adopted a dog about 2 years ago. They asked for all of those things (vet, etc) but never called any of them. I think that even if they do call that they just want to know that you are on record as having taken your animal(s) there before. Best of luck to ya!!

peesticksandstones said...

What a cutie! I recall going through something similar to bring home our two cats years ago. I may have even had to stretch the truth a little in some case (e.g. did my landlord approve? ummmm... sure).

Looking forward to updates. And more pictures!

Alyssa said...

I want to catnap your adorable little kitty. They are so fuzzy and cute and wonderful!