Meet Madelyn

I've been planning on adopting a cat for some time now, but first I had to move to an apartment that allows animals, and then I needed to finish unpacking.  Finally, I'm done- and I almost immediately fell in love with Madelyn.

I adopted her from Last Chance Animal Rescue (LCAR).  They have agreements with several PetSmarts in the area to put Adoption Centers in the store.  PetSmart provides the space; LCAR keeps them stocked with cats and takes care of them.  The cats come from all up and down the East Coast- LCAR reps rescue them from kill shelters and bring them down here.

Madelyn had come from a shelter in Delaware.  LCAR had named her Shelley.  She was asleep when I first saw her; in fact, I was looking at a different cat when the LCAR volunteer let her out of her cage to stretch her legs.  She (the cat, not the volunteer!) jumped in my lap when I made kissy sounds at her, put her paws on my shoulder, and touched her nose against my lips.  I looked at the volunteer and said "this cat knows how to get adopted!" A few cuddles later, and I was completely sold.  LCAR has a policy of sending cats home with their new owners that very evening (I'm not entirely sure this is a great policy, but I'm not going to go off on that tangent right now), so I rushed home to pick up my cat carrier, then back to PetSmart for my new baby.  She made things a little bit difficult- she kept lying on top of the clipboard with the adoption paperwork and trying to chew on my pen.

Poor Madelyn went by several different trial names for a day or so- I was having a lot of trouble picking one that fit her.  Finally, I settled on Madelyn (Maddie for short!).

She's 8 months old, and just about the sweetest cat I've ever met.  She loves to play, but most of all she really loves to cuddle.    I love the way she rubs her cheek against mine.  The first night, she woke me up several times for snuggles, but she is getting better about letting me sleep through the night now that she realizes that she can have cuddle time on a regular basis.  She even lets me knit, as long as I let her lie on or next to me and take frequent breaks to pet her.

I took Maddie to the vet a couple of days after I adopted her, and it turns out that Maddie has small amounts of three different parasites.  The treatment takes 10 days (5 days of powder, 10 days of pills), then we have to wait three weeks before the vet does another test to make sure that they're all completely out of her system.  Until then, Maddie doesn't get to meet any other animals.  We've finished the powder days, and just have 5 more pill days left.  Honestly, though, of all things that could be wrong with her, this is not as bad as it could be.  I'm just grateful that it's not worse.  It's inconvenient, but she doesn't seem to be uncomfortable since she has them in such small amounts, and it's fixable.  Besides, Maddie is totally worth it.