From commentors Josh & Nick:
A little over a year ago, we lost our younger cat to cancer. To begin to describe how painful that was is next to impossible. There was something missing in our home, and our other cat definitely missed her little brother.
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We decided that it was time to adopt, and searched around quite a bit. We came across this cat rescue group in Gainesville called STAR (Saving Terrific Animals Rescue). After speaking with Elise extensively, we started receiving pictures of various kittens.
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That’s when we discovered Nezumi (a tabby Maine Coon mix).
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We conducted phone interviews, vet interviews, sent photos of the house, and once approved, made the drive from Tampa. The second we met her, we fell in love. She had apparently been dropped off at the pound too young to be adopted, and was to be euthanized. Fortunately STAR fostered her until she found a proper home.
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Shortly thereafter, we decided that we wanted another kitten. Nezumi had far too much energy for Teak (the senior cat). We called STAR again, and decided on Ushi ( black and white Manx).
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The first day was rough due to stress, but the two quickly became friends. They are now constantly snuggling, playing, and even grooming each other. It’s very common to come across a scene like the attached photo. Contacting STAR was the best decision we ever made!
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(Ushi ( L ) means cow in Japanese, and Nezumi ( R ) means mouse.)
Sputnik_Sweetheart
This is a great start to the morning. The picture is precious!
JoshB
This made my morning to see my kittens on the site! After the craptacular week, this has helped. Thank you!
JPL
What a nice story. STAR sounds like a great organization and Ushi and Nezumi are lucky that you passed the interview process.
JoshB, We thank you for sharing your story because as you said it has been a crappy week and your story made me happy.
HeartlandLiberal
This for Josh and Nick. Pick up the phone and call S.T.A.R.
Tell them they have a problem with their web site. I use FireFox. I just Googled them. The only reference in the top results is via PetFinder: http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/FL664.html/. It leads to this message: “Content Encoding Error. The page you are trying to view cannot be shown because it uses an invalid or unsupported form of compression.”
They are listed on http://www.petfinder.com/awo/index.cgi?location=32605 list of shelters page, but it is the same link, the same error.
A little more searching, and they don’t have much of a web presence, it appears, and the few references I find via google all are on pages mentioning them or listing them, but with that same bad URL as a link.
JoshB
They have pretty much next to nothing in terms of a web presence (we found them via PetFinder). They are based in the Gainesville/Ocala area, and can be reached by phone at 352-494-8959 or email at STAR32601 “at” aol.com. They are an informal group of fosters, but do a hell of a job.
WereBear
Bless them!
You two already have your rewards, looks like :)
PurpleGirl
That picture is way cute, in overload territory. The story is fantastic. I hope exposure here will help STAR, both with adoptions and finances.
General Stuck
confessions of a tortured torturer. Somebody arrest this admitted war criminal already.
Annie
Wonderful picture. I wish I could print and put on my bulletin board at work. It definitely would make my smile when I am having a crappy day! To smuggle and be loved…
Annie
Oops. I meant snuggle. Apparently, I don’t have permission to edit my own comment! Cool. Maybe now we can just edit each other’s. That would be fun.
Elie
You are so lucky to have them!
I just lost my darlin’ Bill this September – an 18 y.o. Brown Tabby. He and my other kitty, Buddy, a beautiful silver and black American Shorthair, would snuggle and groom each other.
It is still so painful how much I miss my boy. Buddy, who used to be very independent, is stuck to me like glue these days. We both miss Bill terribly.
I am contemplating changing jobs and moving so don’t want to get a new cat right now, but I know that one is in the future.
Both Bill and Buddy I acquired by serendipity. I hope this happens again and I am open to that chance…
Till then, pictures like this warm my heart but also give me a little painful memory too.
Savor your precious feline friends, enjoy them…their love is a gift.
asiangrrlMN
Aw, they are so precious together. I love snuggling kittehs.
ET
I have a colleague who has a black and white cat like yours who is named Heffer.
grumpy realist
Ah. Yes, the Japanese name gambit. There’s a very funny story in “Japan; it’s not all Raw Fish” about what happens when you (a foreigner) name your cat “Neko” (cat) in Japan.
kc
So much adorableness . . .