Poppy

by Linda
(New Jersey)

After having no cats in my house for a while my family agreed to adopt a one-eyed cat I heard about. He was extremely standoffish. I loved him, but I still wished I had a cat who curled up with me and let me pet it.

My son's friend was fostering an older kitten who was a tuxedo cat, just like the one I already had. We decided to adopt her. Her name is Poppy.

The adoption was handled through the local shelter. The foster mom was bringing Poppy to the shelter for a medical procedure and it was decided that I could be the one to pick up Poppy the next day and bring her home. I was bringing home my new cat on Mother's Day!!

The shelter had some strange policies. I brought a cat carrier, left it in front of their door, and waited across the street. They came out, took the carrier, put her in it, and left it outside their door. Then I was able to pick her up and bring her home.

We kept her in the carrier for a bit, then in a bathroom. She was very frightened.

I had to bring her to the vet for a check up. She was a small cat. I didn't think it would be a problem. I had pills to sedate her with because my other cat needed them. they didn't work. It was a traumatic experience for all of us, including my other cat who watched the whole thing. I ended up needing to go to urgent car and started taking antibiotics from all the scratches I got that started swelling up.

A friend came over and cat whispered her into the cage and we had a successful vet visit.

Over time, Poppy got used to me. I did some animal communication with her, I always fed her, and I was gentle with her, except for that one time. She really liked to play with the laser pointer and she also liked feathers tied to a string.

The addition of Poppy to our household seemed to cause my other cat to be much more friendly to humans. So even though Poppy is very skittish, my other cat has many friendly periods throughout the day. The two cats love to play with each other as well. They run around the house, chasing each other and sometimes they hang out on a mat together to rest.

Poppy really liked to sit on the window sill and look out into our backyard. Sometimes she seems to be watching the squirrels. She enjoys being petted by me when I am sitting on the couch. She's a really good girl.