Oreganet - The Cats

		Apollo was vicious at the shelter - not the ideal candidate for adoption. We almost didn't take him home, but as I said, he and Tana were a pair, so we decided it was worth taking a chance. They had to put the thick leather gloves on to get him out of the cage. Oddly, the animal shelter told us Apollo was a female. Now, does this big cat look like a girl? Apollo isn't even a girl's name! The vet was most amused when I took Apollo in for his first checkup, and he was quite happy to show me otherwise. I can't believe I didn't figure it out from the very beginning. After settling into his new home, Apollo calmed down and turned into the sweetest, friendliest cat. He is affectionate and playful and follows us around like a puppy.

		Montana, or Tana for short, was the affectionate one who won our hearts at the shelter. She purred and longed for attention. She's still a very affectionate kitty, but she tends to be a loner. She prefers the upstairs in our house and is your best friend if you are sitting in front of the computer. She likes to play by herself and gets annoyed because Cally picks on her a lot. However, they do like to play chase together sometimes. Tana only talks when she wants something. She's very smart. When she wants crunchies, she meows very distinctively at you; if she wants to go into a closed room, she stretches against the door; she has figured out how to open the kitchen cupboards.

		We adopted Cally in the spring of 98. She was the only cat we named. Wayne thought California was a cute name to go with our Montana, and I'm into Greek myths so I liked Callisto, so we compromised. It probably helped that she was labeled as a Calico on her original paperwork, although as you can see she is really a tortoise shell. The vet/pet store in town took in many strays that year and she came from a spring litter. Her mother had been killed in a bad storm. She was three weeks old when they took her in and was adopted twice by the same people who kept bringing her back to the store - apparently their other cat wouldn't get along. We took pity and brought her home when she was three months old. She is the most playful and energetic kitty! She also talks. We're not sure what she's saying, but she'll carry on a full conversation with you. Or tell you off if you cough or make noise or do things she doesn't like. She can be very sweet and affectionate, but she is also very jumpy and hides whenever there are strangers. Her favorite pasttime is knocking objects under the stove.

As you can tell, we're both advocates of adopting kitties that need homes, rather than encouraging pet stores to breed more. We adopted Apollo and Montana from the Northeast Animal Shelter, Salem MA, a non-kill shelter on Boston's North Shore. Cally was adopted as a stray taken in by our local vet Friends & Companions in Tewksbury MA. All cats are lovable. We're glad that we were able to help out a few felines when they needed it most.

Finding felines that need a loving home is never a problem. If you have a place in your home for a four-legged friend let me suggest the following as good places to start to find one: