Yes, yes; I know, I know. Do I have room for a fourth cat? Can I afford a fourth cat? Would I have enough time and love for a fourth cat? The answers will come far too late now, since I now have a fourth cat.
And it is all my fault. I stopped by PetsMart last Friday to buy cat stuff. TLC Adoptions, Inc. had cats for viewing, including a 7 year old VERY over-weight female, who went on a purring spree the moment I touched her. DSH (Domestic Shorthair, what our British cousins call a “moggie”) tuxedo cat, black with a white throat and front paws.
So I talked to the ladies of the organization. Hmmm, seems that all these non-profit, no pay, all-volunteer cat rescue groups seem to be mostly women. We talked of finances, vet bills, food, the other cats, lifestyles, and so on.
Now here is an interesting point. They had never heard of Much Love Animal Rescue, who gave me Conway. They had never heard of Critter Companions, who gave me Czarina. They HAD heard of the Maine Coon Rescue League, who gave me Max.
I could tell they were dubious about my feeding patterns. Now, most of you know that all I’ve learned about cat care and how to be a Cat daddy has come from the three Newsgroups of rec.arts.sf.fandom (RASFF), alt.callahans (The Place), and alt.support.menopause (The Menobabes), along with the members of TEA (The Eunuch Archives).
This means I have avoided all cat oriented Newsgroups, because of the flame wars, especially the flame wars on cat nutrition and feeding and the various forms of cat food. Some people have VERY STRONG opinions on this.
Which included one of the TLC ladies, who H*A*T*E*D the whole concept of dry cat food (kibble) and felt all cats should be on canned food. Problem: the new cat didn’t like canned food, just kibble, and somehow got badly overweight. If I were to keep her on dry food, could she get along OK with Hills Prescription Diet Feline K/D? Would this be enough to control her weight, or would more drastic measures have to be undertaken? If so, HOW? Especially, how in a multi-cat household?
So maybe this was a warning that I should forget the whole stupid idea, and I suggested that maybe they should wait until a more suitable candidate came along. Problem: the cat had been up for adoption for 6 months, and I was the very first to express any kind of interest in her. Typical for an older cat. A more suitable candidate? Any takers?
There was a $75 adoption fee. I had no checkbook, no credit cards, and little cash. Payday is 24 October. This did not save me, as they were willing to take my word that I would mail in the check later.
In case you were wondering, there was no problem when I brought her home. Conway mostly ignored her, Czarina glared at her but stayed in her heated window bed, and Max looked as if he wanted to be friendly but was not sure how. She has explored the house, is comfortable in the living room, slept with me last night, and has used the same scratch pads that the other cats have used, sparing my shabby furniture. Not sure of her toilet habits yet, but have found no messes outside the current batch of six litter boxes. She is, like Czarina and Max, a purring machine.
Ladies, Gentlemen, and Eunuchs, please say hello to MOLLY.
A-1 
