Moment of Enlightenment of the Week

Okay, I realize that these "[blank] of the week" blog entries may be misleading in that they imply that I have a [blank] every week. It has been a while since I've had a moment of enlightenment worth sharing, so the next weekly moment of enlightenment will probably not occur for another 6-9 months. Just fyi.

As you know, Mr. Nonny Nu got a new kitty last Tuesday. Kash is super cute and I love playing with him. At first, when I went to pick him up (his original master and mistress were lower income folks who just happen to love a pair of Siamese cats who had kittens), it didn't seem like he liked me. I thought he was adorable, but I was very worried that he wouldn't like his home. Well, that very night, after he had his drama queen moment (hiding under the couch for a couple hours), he ended up so comfortable with us that he just slept with us in our bed.

I admit that I felt a bit offended that he didn't do anything that Sushi used to do, and drew a clear boundary that Kash was Mr. Nonny Nu's cat and not my cat. I guess I felt wary of developing a close relationship with another cat, since I know the cat will pass away before I do, and it'll be Sushi all over again. But, the fact of the matter is, Kash is my kitty, too (if not for the fact that I have been the only one feeding him and cleaning out his litter box, then for the fact that California law says that I am entitled to all half of Mr. Nonny Nu's property).

So, I started checking out the websites of shelters around my area, and saw a lot of kitties in need of a home. Today, I finally went to the local PetsMart and also the Humane Society to look for a kitty. I didn't get to the Humane Society early enough and they already had all their adoption appointments booked up, so I was told to go back tomorrow.

Boy, am I glad I didn't adopt a kitty today. If I did, I think I might have adopted the wrong one. I saw a lot of kitties and cats--alot. There were several who I liked a lot and wanted to take home. But, I was looking for one who really connected with me, one who knew that I was there to take them home and that we were meant to be together. I honestly didn't see one like that. That was over six hours ago, but I am just now realizing that, despite logically telling myself not to, what I was looking for was another Sushi. There simply isn't going to be another cat like Sushi, who I bonded with immediately. That was just special and there will never be another moment or cat like that.

But, I think that the point isn't to get another Sushi. The point is to give a cat a home. There were so many cats I found online who needed homes. Some had stories to tell about their old families, which would explain why they weren't all just jumping for joy or "turning it on" when I visited them to say hello. It's not that these cats aren't bonding with me. It's that, maybe, they miss their old life or they miss their buddy they had known for years and years because their buddy got adopted and they didn't.

I almost adopted a kitten today, but maybe that's not really the cat for me. The older cats are so hard to place, and they are the ones who had to leave a previous life or became separated from their life long friends. They have such negative prospect and have lost so much (compared to kittens). No wonder they aren't the happiest campers in the shelter and aren't rolling on their backs putting on a show for perspective adopters.

I'm rambling now, but I guess my point is that I realized that I was looking for something that no longer exists, and what I should be focusing on is helping out the worst off kitty that I can help.