OK, his middle name isn’t really “Covid.” Actually, he doesn’t even have a middle name. He’s just a(nother) cat, albeit a juvenile one, from the streets of Albany. Our third, to be exact.
About a month ago, when I began indulging Quinn’s lobbying for an additional pet, I put out some feelers about the best route for acquiring a kitten.
Understand that our wish for a young cat came with our impression that Jeter, the 7-year-old, 85-pound Lab who already made a home with us, would be more inclined to accept (if not welcome!) a baby rather than a fully formed adult cat from the mean streets of the South End.
I initially searched for an orange cat, the same kind of cat who had stolen my heart in recent years after my middle son rescued his Enzo from Albany’s lower Grand Street. My next option, I thought, would be a tiger striped kitten because they’re just so damn cute.
However, neither of those panned out despite my reaching out to rescue groups in two states and three counties. No, it seems we were destined to get a tuxedo cat because that was the kitten who needed a home and matched all our other criteria.
If I’ve learned anything about cats, it’s this: they pick you and it seems that Rocco was picking us.
The organization we used, Whiskers, provided us with a seamless adoption experience. We filled out an application, expressed interest in a couple of the cats on their site and had a reasonably quick response in return.
While the kittens we initially admired were unavailable when I made contact, we were quickly matched with another youngster.
There was regular communication with Rocco’s (previously known as Cole) foster mom and she was great about sending photos and info about his daily antics as we waited for him to be neutered, a process postponed due to that epic snow storm earlier this month.
Two days after Christmas, though, our little guy was ready to join the fam. My youngest and I drove up to Petsmart in Clifton Park, the location which is affiliated with Whiskers. Apparently, each Petsmart site partners with a different animal rescue organization and that’s where Whiskers places their pets from, at least during this Covid time.
Our donation of $100 garnered us an adorable, playful little guy who has been provided with medical attention and socialization. He purrs like nobody’s business and seems pretty happy with his new digs. We’re definitely smitten with our kitten.
As for the big guy, Jeter, he’s still a bit in the dark about this new sibling. We’ve kept these brothers on different floors of our house so far and are optimistic they will eventually become a blended family of spoiled pets.
For the moment, Jeter is befriending, I mean becoming acquainted with, the new Roomba. Hoping he’ll quickly learn that while the vacuum may suck, a new full-time fellow furry friend most certainly does not.
