Happy Belated Valentine’s Day
Per my usual, I was perusing the cat rescue groups on Facebook one morning, ten days after Valentine’s Day this past February. I stopped scrolling when I came across a video showing a gorgeous scrawny lynx point Siamese hunkered down in his cage at the Downey Shelter. According to the post, he was frightened of a hail storm that had just blown through, yet I could see in the video he was sweetly receptive to the person petting him despite his fears. I rewatched this video and knew I needed to get him out of that situation and scratch behind his adorable pointed tip ears. I commented on the post: “If I pick him up tomorrow, I can foster him until we find him a forever home!”. I scooped the young gentleman the very next day, and although I was totally falling in love with him from night one, I really did think “oh, I’ll spend time with him til he’s comfortable and find him the very best permanent situation”.
Little did we know…
March rolled around shortly after I’d named him Sirrus (after character in a 90’s PC game called Myst). The two of us were getting along like gangbusters, creating new games to play with a variety of toys, and he was always so thrilled when I’d get home from work each night. Things were heating up globally around this new virus that was circulating, and it was getting closer to where I lived as well. Next thing I knew, my state shut down and work-from-home was the mandate. While the global situation was alarming, Sirrus and I tried to revel in getting all the extra time together! I had already been getting called a “foster fail” in the cat groups when I’d post update photos, and it seemed pretty clear by the end of March: COVID wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon, and neither were Sirrus and I as a duo! We were so lucky to find one another exactly when we did, and ended up being perfect quarantine companions.
No Spring Chicken
Sirrus gets called “bougie” at least once a week during video calls where my friends and co-workers witness just how spoiled he is. (What can I say?! He deserves the very best!!) I’m sure I’d spoil him either way, but something about knowing what he’s been through really drives me to give him all of the love, care, pets, blankets, and playtime that he could ask for. When I took him home in February, I was told that he was seven years old. He spent the first five years of his life as an indoor cat, but his original owner passed away and he was eventually abandoned outside. He spent two years on the streets before getting scooped up and taken to the shelter. He was skinny like a ferret when I first took him in, and I’m happy to report that he soon convinced me to help him gain enough weight for the vet to say “you can pull back on his portions!”. We added a few more dynamic games to the daily routine and he’s at a healthy weight for his size now (15 pounds of cat!).
Happy and Healthy
Having a holistic health care package arrive at my doorstep every month is such a blessing for me and for Sirrus. PrettyLitter allows me to catch when his pH is off (my vet is always weirded out that I can tell her when it’s at an 8!), which is helpful given his urinary health complications from his two years on the streets. PrettyPlease is packed full of nutrients and ACTUAL proteins, so I know he’s getting a balanced diet. It’s so incredibly helpful to be able to track what’s going in AND coming out of him, on the health front! I’m so glad we got stuck together and his ears are even softer in person to scratch behind than I even imagined when first coming across that video of him!
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