Yay!

He sounds like a delight!

Probably no problems, since he's been in a place where they have to guard so stringently against diseases, but I my own self would take him to my own vet for a well-kitty exam, just "to be sure".

Congratulations on your new guy!

Good luck with your Pumpkin. I had a Pumpkin once and I loved him so. He died in 1999 and I still think of him. I have another old orange boy now, 17, and I dread the day he goes.

I just love those marmalade cats. That's great news for you.

I would definitely make the vet appointment since you do have other cats, just to be sure the new kitty is in tip top health.

I know how you feel with the shelter. It is so sad, but you definitely can't take them all home. I had to stop shopping at the Petsmart because walking past the adoption center would bring me to tears and I would leave the store very depressed. Although I do adopt my cats from the shelter, and sponsor two cages, it is still so sad for the ones that don't get adopted.

I think the shelters are doing a good thing not adopting the week of the Christmas holiday. So many people impulse buy their kid an animal, and after the holiday the "novelty" wears off. I have a 12 year old female labrador that was a "Christmas" gift that didn't work out for someone one year. By February, she was just a pain in the a$$ to the family. To me she's worth a million, and yes, she can be a bit of pain, but who's not?

Someone told me that the orange cats were the first seen in the manger - the M on their head between their ears - something to do with that. They are beautiful.

Have a wonderful holiday!

It's never easy is it. SPCA called last night and I called them back this morning. They are having trouble getting the vet records from my former vet. That vet apparently changed over to a computerized system and since we hadn't been since 2004 (we started with our new wonderful vet in 2005) we were archived. Recepionist wasn't exactly cooperative when I said I need the records. "Why are they important?" she asks. Duh, to show that I know how to take care of cats! To show that I ensure they get proper medical attention! I'm so aggravated.... So she promised to look for them today, if she calls me back and says she hasn't found them I swear I'll scream. SPCA says by law the vet has to keep them for 8 years so they better find them. It'll cost me $20 for them to fax them to the SPCA. Do you think it would be a good idea to get a copy of the records for me just in case I decide to adopt again in the next year or so?

tess

Try a different shelter without such requirements! They're lucky to adopt out an adult cat - geez - he's been there forever!

try your county pound next time - they don't ask so many questions! Most county pounds are high-kill too so you'll REALLY be saving a life. I wouldn't tolerate those inquiries.

Wow, Pumpkin is lucky being kept that long. And I don't think you're reasons for getting him are selfish at all. Just the opposite!

If it were me, I'd just do what I have to do to get those documents from the vet. It couldn't hurt to have a copy for future use either.

Here's hoping that you've got those papers and an appointment for Pumpkin already! :)

Thanks all! I finally got a copy of the records yesterday. I called the old vet around lunchtime and was given excuses, I was very patient. Then like 10 minutes after I had called they called me back asking me to verify my information again: name, check, "and your dog's name is?" - doh! But then they found them and I picked them up at the end of the day. Just reminds why I decided to dump this vet! I cherish my new cat vet. So I faxed off the info to the SPCA this morning and I guess we'll see. I can't imagine they'd reject us but if that's what they decide then it's their loss - Pumpkin would have a wonderful life in our home. DH said if they reject us then we can talk to our wonderful new vet and see if they can help us with getting a cat through the SPCA or elsewhere in the city they are in. The cats they have have only been there a short while, and for me I'm a sucker for "rescuing" cats in need and since Pumpkin has been at a shelter for 16 months he seemed to be a needier soul.

I'll keep you posted, hopefully they'll let me know today if we can have him join our family.

Cheers all!
tess

Success!! Pumpkin is coming to his new home today. My DH is going to pick him up, after stopping at PetSmart to load up - litter box, litter, cat carrier, etc. Here's a picture of him that was on the SPCA website:

He looks lazy but when we had him out when we met him he showed himself to be a curious kitty, there was a scratching post toy in the room which he was attacking. He'll hate me, but he has a appointment with our vet for 10 a.m. on Saturday for a good going over. He'll be segregated from the boys probably til next Monday just to keep an eye on him to see if he brought any respitory bug home.

Hopefully the boys will like him, though I know I'm in for probably 6 months of not so fun times. And he'll hate me again at the beginning of February as the boys have to be boarded for 4 nights at the vet as we'll be away.

tess

Congratulations - how wonderful. I love orange tabbies - have a 7 year old myself. Maybe your cats will get along faster than you think. We had to keep our youngest apart from the others for about 2 months since he was a stray with unknown background (didn't want to take a risk with FeLV). But once they got together they were great after just a couple of weeks.

How wonderful, Tess!!! I have never been attracted to the red tabbies till we got our Poppy and now I wonder what took me so long! I adore him!

You won't regret getting the ball rolling with the vet, it's good that they have a starting point with him, before they may be needed. I've taken every single one of our babies to the vet, either on the way home from the shelter or within a week or so after coming from the breeder.

Hooray! Hope all is going well with Pumpkin in his new home. I bet he is so thankful to be out of a cage after so long. :)

My vet gives me a printed receipt of each visit with the price and what was done. I keep them in my file so I have what they have in their records. Hopefully your new vet will do something like that. I'm glad you found a vet you love, that's very important.

Let us know how Pumpkin is fitting in with his new brothers!
Sher

Well Pumpkin is settling in. He is a really wonderful cat. Very happy and curious. He went to the vet yesterday and dazzled them, though he hated getting his nails trimmed! They did a full blood panel on him as well as checked for feline aids and feline leukemia (he's negative) - they called about an hour after we got home from the vet with the results of those tests so we could immediately take the barriers away, except for the baby gate, separating him from our other two cats. Blood test results come back next week. He needs a dental, he has gingivitis - not surprising. And the vet thought she heard a slight heart murmur - the other vet at the clinic will check him in a month when he goes in with the other two for boarding (she apparently has sharper ears) to confirm that. My hyper-t kitty developed his heart murmur at about this age. Vet confirmed he's somewhere in the 6-9 range and put him down as 7. So otherwise he's good, just needs to eat more, but he's still so nervous about his new surroundings I'm not surprised his food intake is not as much as I think it can be. Though he is a trimmer cat than the others so could be he just needs less food. Anyways, linked some pics of him below - the big white cat is Oscar "the grouch" and he's still being grouchy. Barney our other one is living up to his nature, he's pretty much settled down.

Happy new year everyone!
tess

Here is a link that might be useful: Pumpkin