Because I was so attached to them it was really hard to let them go. They had been my steady companions for over eight years (I got them when they were seven years old) and it was strange to be without any furry companions all of a sudden. I knew I would eventually get another cat, but I also knew I wasn't ready for one right away. So the past eight months I have been catless.
But no more! Slowly but steadily I started to look around, visiting websites of animal shelters and I even got some offers from people to adopt cats or kittens (which I refused). And at some point I just knew that this time of the year would be a good point to adopt a new furry friend. This has nothing to do with the christmas spirit, but with the fact that I will soon have a two week vacation and the new cat and I would have some time to get to know each other without too much interference.
Anyway, yesterday was the big day! I went to the city of Leeuwarden and visited the animal shelter over there. I was absolutely overwhelmed by the amount of cats they had available. About 120 cats reside there right now and most of them are found somewhere and never claimed by their owners. Unbelievable, because most of them are also absolutely wonderful. So before I say anything else about the cat I took home with me I would like to call out to anybody who considers taking in a cat to go an animal shelter first and see what's available. So many really cool cats are looking for a home that it just broke my heart that I could only take one. I must have seen dozens of cats who I would have been just as happy with.
In the end however I chose this one:
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| Hello, blogsy people, I'm Peer! |
This is Peer! For you non-dutchies, it is pronounced as 'pair', not the English 'peer'. The people at the shelter named him so and I think it fits him, because there's a Dutch expression that goes something like "he's a good old peer", which means "he's a good old chap" ;-). Peer is also a first name for males in this region, so it fits him double. ;-)
I chose him because he was the first cat I saw in the first cat room that really stood out to me. He was demanding attention even through the glass window he was behind. After that many more cats appealed to me, but I simply chose him because he was the first. All the others would probably have suited me just as nicely, but it was impossible to make a fair choice other than on instinct.
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| This is my extra seductive pose! |
He is incredibily sweet and affectionate. In fact he's so affectionate it's hard to get away from him. He demands a lot of attention and purrs all the time. A funny fact was told to me by one of the shelters staff. When Peer was being checked out by the vet it was impossible to get a good listen to his heart, because he simply purred too loudly! I would say his heart is working just fine then! ;-) Here's a cat who's so sweet he beat the stetoscope with his charm.
Other than his behaviour showing how sweet he is, we don't really know much about him. They don't know where he came from and who he belonged to and because of this they also don't know what his age is. I'm guessing he's not very young and not very old. Somewhere between 6 and 8 years probably, but who can really say?
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| Am I cute or what? Pet me! Pet me now! |
It was really exciting bringing him home and I was a little nervous too. No matter how sweet he is, it's like bringing a stranger into the house that you still have to get used to. Unfortunately for him he got seasick on the ferry and I felt so sorry for him. He was behaving so wonderfully and kindly and then the waves just reduced him to a bundle of misery. Luckily he felt much better as soon as he got into his new home.
He wasn't nervous at all and immediately claimed a spot next to me on the couch acting as if he'd lived here for ages already. Slowly I introduced him to the entire house and he knew within five seconds where his food could be found! Turns out he's a great food lover, which inspired my sister to say he will fit perfectly within our family! ;-)
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| I make a great blogging assistant too! |
So, now I can change my profile again and say I live with one cat. How we will get along in the future will be a matter of time. We still have to get used to each other as I have to get used to the fact of having a pet again at all. It's all coming back to me slowly! ;-)
Hope you liked meeting Peer and hope you have a wonderful artsy weekend!