Wednesday, March 14, 2007

The Great Pet Hunt

First--Jen, you amaze me. I am so computer-fixated that I think I've forgotten how to write longhand. (Seriously. No one can read my writing unless I s..l..o..w....w..a..y.....d..o..w..n. And I'm too impatient for that!)

Here, I'm on what my husband is now referring to as the Great Pet Hunt. I recently lost my dear baby, a cat named Quincy. I've had The Mighty Quinn for twelve years, ever since I got out of school (in other words, the pet came before the husband, a fact of which the cat was WELL aware.) It's been hard not having him around the house. How can it not affect your daily life when you're constantly being attacked by a twenty pound, completely blind Siamese cat with a yowl that stops traffic? I thought, at first, that it'd be a long, long time before I got another pet, because I loved MY SPECIFIC cat.

But...now I want the pitter patter of little animal feet around my house again. My cat was my writing buddy--he'd crash on my knees and occasionally take swipes at the laptop. He also knew to howl for food, which was good because it got me off the couch every once in awhile. And I am ready at this point to find a new writing buddy. One who needs to find a home and lots of love.

This brings me to the Great Pet Hunt. I'm going to make a confession: I'm addicted to cruising Petfinder.com. It's the best site in the world for those who want to adopt a pet. You can search rescue centers and humane societies in your local area for all kinds of pets in need of love. But just "cruising" Petfinder is torture. I want to adopt ALL of them! Of course, that's impossible. Plus, I'm going on a trip next week, and another in April, and I think it'd be unfair to a pet to adopt them and go on two vacations right away. So Not Cool. But can I keep myself off of Petfinder? NO.

So when I'm not here, and I'm not writing...chances are, I'm going to be Pet Finding. Wish me luck!

3 comments:

Micol Ostow said...

Niki--I am OBSESSED with petfinder! When my parents' dog died two years ago, they were too depressed to consider getting a new dog, so I spent days on Petfinder tracking down a puppy for them. The day we were meant to go adopt her, they both freaked out and refused to go. Somehow I talked them into it, and of course, they now love Georgie more than they love me....

Kelly McClymer said...

Good luck!

I'm not a pet person. We have a cat, who I spoil, of course. But she's going on eighteen and I don't intend to replace her.

I hope the pet you find to replace your beloved (you know one will call to you whether you have a conference or trip or not :-) is everything a pet should be: confounding, ungrateful, and completely loveable :-)

Kelly

Micol Ostow said...

And neurotic. Don't forget neurotic.