From commentor Phillygirl:
Here’s the timorous but loving benny, taking in the sights of my little back yard. one advantage of having an old, fat cat is that he can’t jump over the wall. he is forever safe.
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Senior catz are deserving and grateful, too. I got my Benny from some rescue people who were at their wits’ end. Benny, age and history kind of mysterious, performed miserably on adoption days, cowering in the back of his cage and trembling when touched. Also, he was fat, and thus, like chunkier senior humans, not so visually appealing. No matter! After hiding under a rug (!) in my house for a week, he slowly began turning into a pet. Within a few months, he was a cuddler, a licker, and a belly-rub enthusiast. Mostly, these guys just need to feel safe. Then they will reward you richly, with devotion and sometimes with small, dead rodents. Get to yer shelter tomorrow.
(Since I a full-figured ginger of a certain age, I think that Benny is a fine, handsome fellow!)
***********
And a bonus story from commentor JCT:
I’m reading this crashed out in our RV with my own pack of beagies. We actually bought the RV because we couldn’t bear to leave them behind…
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We rescued our first beagle mix a few years ago – supposedly for our young son, but Shadow bonded to my husband and we decided to adopt a sister for her. I went to a rescue day at a vet to get a young beagle, only to fall in love with a scrawny, scarred old girl named Trixie. No one was paying any attention to her, but my daughter noticed that as Trixie walked up to the puppy cages they all ran to her like she was their mother- no matter what the breed. When we asked about her the rescue folks were so thrilled, they thought she would never be picked. She had been found by the side of the road, apparently abandoned by one of the fucking puppy mills in the area. It is hard to describe how beat-up she looked, when I brought my husband out to pick her up he looked at me like I had lost my mind. She was of course, a fabulous dog, adored everyone, slept curled up with my son every night in their private ”beagle pile” and just adored chew toys – I think the poor sweetheart had never had toys before, she used to hide them in a pile under our bed. 3 months of love and joy later she became a little short of breath and by the end of the month we had to have her put down while I held her because she had metastatic mammary gland tumors thanks to her previous life as a puppy machine. For months we were finding hidden toys. 8 years later we still have her purple leash and collar. Just last night the whole family was talking about her, while we were surrounded by our current beagles – both of whom sleep in our bed, one with her head on the pillow like a baby.
jeffreyw
We got cats.
jeffreyw
And a dog.
Or two.
jeffreyw
This kitteh is spoken for already. The shelter volunteers get first pick, so go on over to that shelter and spend some time.
jeffreyw
Dang, that was hard work. I’ll just treat myself.
MattR
Today is a momentous day in animal (but particularly dog) history. Fifty years ago today, the Russians launched Sputnik 5 into space. With its safe return the next day, Belka and Strelka (two dogs) became the first living things to survive a space flight. (There were actually also 2 rats and a number of mice as well as some plants and fungi on board). One of Strelka’s pups was later a gift to Caroline Kennedy.
Cat Lady
@jeffreyw: @jeffreyw: @jeffreyw:
I would take them all today, and then someone would have to adopt me out of the “home” my husband would commit me to.
ETA: Benny is identical to the tom who fathered the 4 ferals I have – two black cats, a calico, and the most beautiful gray tiger in the world who came in my house one day and stayed, my big baby boy Woodrow aka Woody.
MattR
@jeffreyw: OMG. That is some killer cuteness in all the photos. While those may be cats some today, today they are still KITTEHS!!
SadieSue
Thanks for posting this, AL, & thanks to everyone who adopts pets in need (senior or otherwise).
Speaking of senior kitteh’s – if anyone sees The Moar You Know (& he still has his senior kitty), please ask him to email me – my husband & I would like to talk to him about possibly adopting his kitty.
millriverside atttttt geeeemail dotdotdot comm
And sorry to keep posting this – I just feel so badly for him (& for the kitty cat) that I’ve gotten a bit obsessed about making sure the kitty has a home. I (quite literally) didn’t sleep last night because I was thinking about TMYK & his cat & instead spent the night cuddled up with my 15 year old Emma who we adopted from a friend of a friend who was moving but couldn’t find a place that would take cats.
ETA – We adopted Emma 10 years ago & I don’t even want to think about life without her.
asiangrrlMN
@jeffreyw: First of all, that black puppy is adorable. Secondly, now that I tracked you down, thank you so much. The apple butter tastes better than it looks. You rock!
Benny is a handsome older gent. It’s wonderful that Phillygirl took him in.
JCT, I read your story last night, and it moved me so much.
I’m glad Anne Laurie is starting up the daily adoption threads again–much appreciated and needed as a break from the shenanigans of our political world.
@SadieSue: I said it earlier, but I think you should email Anne Laurie with your email addy if you’re willing to give it to her and let her give it to Moar. I saw him earlier, but he was gone by the time I saw him.
MikeJ
@MattR: I was always a fan of Laika.
Now can somebody tell me where my oxblood wingtips are? Dammit.
Cat Lady
BTW, the thought of Roger Clemens in jail makes me very happy. Please FSM, throw the lying sack of dicks a low and away sinker for the K.
Just Some Fuckhead
Aren’t we essentially arguing for the destruction of adorable little puppies and kitties by promoting the adoption of scarred, old and unstable pets?
Pegm
That looks like a Munchkin cat. My son, who lives upstairs from us, has one that he rescued. They are cats with a dwarfism gene, giving them legs about 2-3 inches long. They have heavy bodies, round heads, and are inclined to be fat. They are very active and very social and tend to be dominant. Our little grandson is named Pucho, and he’s practically a double for this little guy.
Omnes Omnibus
@MikeJ: I broke a lace on a pair of oxblood cap-toes this week. Maybe it’s just not a good week for oxblood (no offense to Mithras intended).
asiangrrlMN
@Just Some Fuckhead: No. Adorable puppies and kittens will always get adopted. Older cats and dogs have a harder time being placed.
beltane
Thanks for appearing with Benny’s story at just the right time. Kain’s post pissed me off more than usual today, must stay away in the future.
gogol's wife
Benny is adorable. I have a fat cat too, Louis (Sullivan), a tuxedo cat who doesn’t fit in his tuxedo any more. He’s on a diet plus exercise program, but mostly he sits and watches his sisters leap and gambol after the toy. If it gets near him where he’s sitting he pins it with his paw and stares at it.
Jebediah
I am glad scaredy-kitty got adopted – it has always bothered me a bit that a dog or cat that is justifiably a little timorous gets ignored.
Good for you and good for him!
beltane
@Just Some Fuckhead: Everyone wants the young cuties. At my local Agway yesterday there were two beautiful kittens, one all gray and the other all black. I doubt they are still there.
silentbeep
To Phillygirl:
“Also, he was fat, and thus, like chunkier senior humans, not so visually appealing”
This is a lovely cat, so mentioning how supposedly ugly old fat people are, is just so sad to see. Casual insensitivity like this, really took away from the overall sweetness of your comment. Not everyone is dismayed by the sight of ‘chunkier senior humans’ I’m not sure who you are speaking for.
Despite my quibble Anne, this is overall a great post. Pet rescue is awesome, just not a fan of the above quote by Phillygirl.
Just Some Fuckhead
All my cats historically have been ginger short hairs. White cats are homicidal, black cats are satanic and scary and gray cats are stupid beyond belief. Ginger cats are robust and well adjusted. My current ginger thinks he’s a dog since he was raised with the puppy. He flops in the kitchen floor and plays really hard with the dog.
The next to last samurai
Who painted stripes on tunch?!??
cathaireverywhere
JCT- your story made me tear up, and Benny probably thanks his lucky stars every day to have found such a great home. He’s a cutie boy.
I have four cats and two dogs. (thus my name) All are rescues. I agree about adopting an older animal. I regularly try to convince people that it is easier to adopt an older animal, because it is. Two of my kitties were abandoned kittens, two were adopted as adults from a shelter and both dogs were adopted as adults from the SPCA. All of them are sweet and loving, and I don’t want to imagine a day without them.
Cain
@Just Some Fuckhead:
tuxedo cats for the win. I wouldn’t trade him for the world. I always get one offer a year saying they would take cat. Clever animal.. the calico ones are demanding though.
cain
cathaireverywhere
Oh, and I have such a soft spot for ginger toms. My Jake wandered into my apartment twenty years ago and made himself at home. It turned out he was from a litter an irresponsible neighbor’s cat had and the neighbor was delighted that I wanted to take Jake. He lived 16 years, and was such a cool cat. He was so sweet and affectionate with everyone including our dogs and our infant daughter. He even jumped into her playpen with her and hung out. He ended up with kidney disease and I gave him IV fluids etc., but he finally clumsily jumped on the bed very early one morning, after he hadn’t been able get up without help for a while and looked at me like he was telling me he was ready to go. He had been very ill and I was debating what I should do. I told him I would take him in later when the vet opened, and he curled up with me and slept for a few more hours before I took him in to be put down. I still miss him.
cRaB8y
@Phillygirl: Your Benny has a doppelganger in Philly – my Oscar aka Stinky, whom we adopted from Morris back in 2003 when he was thought to be about three years old. I wonder if they are related?
Anne Laurie
@silentbeep: There is a perception that ‘chunky older humans’ are unsightly — I can speak from experience, young slender people (and too often those who wish they were young and/or slender) will make nasty remarks about how some people should not be allowed to visually pollute gyms, swimming pools, or other public places. Shelter animals are in a non-stop “beauty contest”, and yes I can believe that “unsightly” fat cats get passed over by many people who don’t think beyond their automatic inculcated thin-is-prettier prejudices.
Violet
@beltane:
Ain’t that the truth. Same thing with humans.
General Stuck
Sort of animal related. When I first saw the headline, I thought it had to be something from The Onion. But apparently not.
Study touts horse tranquilizer Ketamine as ‘magic’ anti-depressant
silentbeep
@Anne Laurie: of course there is a perception that the fat and old are unsightly- but not all people share this perception, and some disagree with this perception as a form of discrimination and bigotry.
But the wording from Philly Girl was not “some find this unattractive” the wording is taken it as a given, that of course, all people feel this way. I don’t feel this way, and there are people that are actively raising awareness against weight discrimination and age discrimination, for the human and the non-human.
The quote again: “Also, he was fat, and thus, like chunkier senior humans, not so visually appealing.”
It’s not “well some feel this way” or “as you can see he looks great, and I find him visually appealing” or “hey some people don’t find fat people unseemly, and aren’t dismayed by looking at a senior citizen either, but a lot of people don’t like looking at either kind of person.” or even “weight and age stigma affect pets too.” That’s the issue for me.
My comment was not about pretending that stigma isn’t there, of course it is. Additionally, my comment has nothing to do with your personal belief re: stigma against supposedly ‘unattractive’ pets as I share those same beliefs.
phillygirl
@silentbeep: I’m not as cute as I used to be, either, and have never lost a moment’s sleep over it. But I work on the adoption end of a rescue organization, and see that old cats, fat cats, and black cats get next to no interest. This breaks my heart over and over, as did my Benny when I heard he’d spent a year in a cage. But as to my dear one’s looks, well, I’m not gonna lie.
@cRaB8y: Benny was from the streets of Jersey City; I got him thru interstate trafficking. But I’m so glad you’re a Morris adopter! Thanks to all the awesome adopters here on BJ.
mcd410x
If I had front page posting ability, I’d post this: It was researching the death of Ruben Salazar for a Rolling Stone article that led Hunter S. Thompson to the events depicted in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
Glad his death is getting another look.
silentbeep
@phillygirl:
“But I work on the adoption end of a rescue organization, and see that old cats, fat cats, and black cats get next to no interest.”
My disagreement with your comment had nothing to do with what you said above. I believe you. Rather than countering hurtful beauty perceptions, you simply agreed with them. What I’m saying is that fat does not necessarily mean inherently automatically ugly, and old does not necessarily mean automatically inherently ugly either – I’m not talking about pretending stigma isn’t there, which I know is.
Texas Dem
TV update: Gov. Dean is getting dry roasted by Keith. Very enjoyable.
Pasquinade
Second that thanks for the rescued cats and dogs post.
Just Some Fuckhead
@mcd410x: Are you sure you wouldn’t rather write spoof to serious media figures?
That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal
@phillygirl:
I’ll send Anne Laurie the pictures of my brood, which includes Eddie, black, scarred and shy when adopted and now black, scarred, shy and three-legged. Sweetest cat ever, though not the brightest bulb on the tree.
Gina
Black cats have a hard time getting homes too? I know big black dogs do. I guess I hung out with too many punks, wiccans, goths, artsy-fartsy types, etc. – everyone had to have black cats – go figure!
The next to last samurai
Black cats get no interest? I knew bbd’s, big black dogs, get passed over-and they’re almost always so sweet!-but did not know about the cats. I would love to have a beautiful black cat. I would keep its fur shined up with lots of petting and, in return, or so i like to fancy, it would be happy to work part-time for me 1 month per year as a halloween cat.
That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal
@The next to last samurai:
I don’t care how you end this sentence. You’re going to be disappointed.
kommrade reproductive vigor
Just a word of advice: NEVER assume this. (And he’s not that fat. My orange cat, HE’S fat. And old. And he still manages jumps that violate the laws of physics.)
Gina
I wanted to plug a local cat rescue that is looking for help rehoming over 70 cats in its care. Orange Street Cats is an ad hoc grassroots group that got together in Albany NY to help with a really sad hoarding situation. A woman in poor health, in her 60’s, and low income, had been renting a rundown house and taking in every cat that came along. She really loved them, and did her best to take care of them, but the numbers kept increasing – to the point where there were over 90 total. Neighbors complained about horrible smells, the city came and condemned the building and tossed the lady out. 20 cats were caught by the local SPCA, but the others were left behind, and the house was due for demolition.
The woman called a friend, who called more friends, and so on, til the group was formed in order to trap and remove all the rest of the cats before the building was demolished with them inside. Over a couple of weeks, the volunteers and the lady went to the house and ended up getting every cat out of there. There were some day old kittens that ended up bottle fed at first, but were reunited with their mom after she was caught, and lots of adult and young cats of all colors. Most were in decent shape, considering, but with all the usual poverty/neglect issues: fleas, earmites, parasites, upper respiratory infections, not spayed/neutered. Orange Street Cats formed a Facebook group, reached out to other local rescues (the one I support, Rottie Empire Rescue took in two elderly Rottie and GSD mix girls). Rottie Empire people have helped out with food, supplies, large cages, and fostering too.
It’s been very inspiring to see all these people rally to help not only the animals, but the woman too. Privacy issues keep a lot of details about what’s happening with her from coming out, so I don’t know what the outlook is at this point. She did love them, but she went WAY over the krazy line. Luckily she finally did reach out for help, and everyone is safe now. It’s interesting, unlike a lot of hoarding cases, there were few of the cats that are really feral – about 10, and they’re going to a feral colony after spay/neuter and shots. The others all had names, and are pretty danged friendly.
apikoros
I sort-of agree with Comrade Reproductive Vigor above, but my three tripods (two stately old queens and a dashing young tom) are very willing to stay put inside the fence. They stay off the counters, tables, and fridge as well. I *love* tripods! all the love with 3/4 the legs!
One of these days I’ll post pix, until then you just have accept that I have the three most beautiful cats in creation :-)
Kristine
@JCT that was a lovely story. Blurry screen virus strikes again.
There should be a special circle of Hell just for people who run puppy mills.
Lysana
I spent a week earlier this month housesitting for my in-laws. Part of why they needed the sitters was because of their two dogs. Chihuahua mixes. And I am now so besotted with dog ownership after a week of taking care of those two, being reminded what it’s like to have a dog the way I haven’t since I was a teenager, that the fact I can’t yet burns.
Need to clear the hoarder-level crap out of the apartment. Need a real income. Maybe someplace with a yard, or maybe a Saint Bernard that will be content to curl up between the bed and the closet until it’s time for a walk.
But godsdamn it, I need a dog.
The pics and stories help a little. Thank you all for sharing them.
Lincolnshire Poacher
I came across this a couple of days ago. Not sure if anyone else saw it.
http://bojack.org/images/craigslistcat.html
cckids
@Lincolnshire Poacher: That is completely hysterical. Loved it.
Jebediah
@Lysana:
As someone with a biggish (90 pounds) dog and a small place with a tiny tiny “yard” – if you can commit to walking your dog at least once, preferably twice, every day, for long enough to tire him or her out (within reason) you should be fine. There are breeds who will do better with this than others (I hear a certain JRT keeps on Cole’s case pretty steadily) but if you are going through a rescue organization or adopting through a vet etc. you can get some sound advice, breed-wise.
Also, too, an older dog will require less exercise – if you haven’t already, read through the senior-pet-adoption thread to hear lots of encouragement regarding adopting a senior pet. Don’t deny yourself (and some lucky dog) all that joy.