More Kitty: Jordan
Sunday, January 13, 2013 at 9:28AM 
Remember the More Kitty and More Puppy memes, in which I spotlighted my own pets (one current, some former) and those of my readers? I guess I'm briefly bringing that back.
If you follow me on social networks, you undoubtedly know there's someone new in the house. His name is Jordan, and much to the chagrin of my dog Ella, he is a cat.
I'm not going to go into great detail about their introduction, because I'm guessing most of you follow me on Facebook, or could easily enough (if I'm wrong about this, let me know in the comment section below). And I have gone into quite a bit of detail each day. I've left reports almost every day to chronicle the process of the cat and dog getting to know each other with no bloodshed, and with a minimum of chasing, clawing, hiding and hurt feelings. My Twitter friends also probably noticed shorter updates. (Hey, it's Twitter. Short is built in.)
I'd have thought people would quickly grow sick to death of hearing about the minor ups and downs of a dog and a cat learning to get along. I would have been wrong. If anybody is not enjoying it, they've kept it to themselves. And I can't tell you how many people have told me they enjoy "watching" the progress. I guess it's more encouraging than watching the process of peace in the Middle East, the gun debate, or Congress.
As you can see, it's going well. (Jordan and Ella, not peace in the Middle East, the gun debate, or Congress.)
So far as I know, I haven't said much, if anything, on social media regarding why I adopted a cat. So I'll do that here. I'll start with why I didn't get a cat a long time ago:
1) I love cats. I grew up with a beautiful Siamese named Ming. I had other cats in (young) adulthood. Then I adopted a parrot named Ziggy. I got help finger-training him from a young man who clipped his wing feathers for the purpose of training. They never grew back in properly. So he never flew dependably well. So I didn't get a cat while he was alive. He lived to be 27.
2) My goal just before I adopted Ella was to adopt a dog and a cat more or less together. That way, I figured, they'd be more likely to accept each other. But on the same week I got Ella from the Humane Society, I began seeing someone who was allergic to cats. So I just adopted the dog. A couple of years later, Ella seemed quite jumpy and chase-y (sure, that's a word) when we saw a cat on the street. So I figured it was too late, I had missed my moment.
Why I changed my mind now:
Ella's friend Tony1) Ella has a new doggy friend. His name is Tony. He comes over sometimes when his people go away for a long day. And Ella is welcome over there any time. But they have a cat, Edward. And I wasn't sure how that would work out. But Ella met Edward, and she was FINE.
2) Most of you know my mom passed away in March of 2012. It's been a little too quiet around here. For both Ella and me. Part of me worried Ella would be sorry I adopted the cat, jealous, or maybe constantly on guard. Another part of me felt it's almost always better to step outside one's comfort zone. I'd rather have a life that's richer and broader than one that's comfortably unchallenged. And I decided I wanted the same for my dog. Our "pack" had shrunk from three to two, and that felt too small. Less like a family and more like a person and a dog.
3) I kept seeing these Facebook ads during the holidays asking if my home and my heart weren't big enough to take in one more homeless pet. (Hint: turns out they were.)
So I'm formally introducing my blog readers to Jordan, who is from H.A.R.T. (Homeless Animal Rescue Team) in Cambria.
I'm still open to feature other people's pets, if you want to send photos and stories. And if you want to go back and see the ones I've featured in the past, you can click on the blog index category Pets, Mine & My Readers.
I have a new blog meme coming up this year to help newer authors by spotlighting their newly-released books with in-depth discussions. And I have no fewer than four new book releases of my own for 2013, possibly more. So, as always, please do stay tuned.
Reader Comments (12)
I had been wondering about Jordan's adoption history. He's a very lucky kitty cat to have his way into your and Ella's hearts and home. We have an old kitty cat named Bonsai who we adopted as an injured stray twelve years ago. He runs our house and our lives quite well! A few months ago we noticed an abandoned feral kitty cat (who looks a lot like Jordan) hanging around under our bird feeder. So, I thought perhaps if I fed him regularly he would be less inclined to hunt our little native birds. Everyday he gets a can of food and some kibble. He waits for me out by the compost pile in the early morning and talks to me a little, but won't let me get close. He sleeps in our woodshed and his very presence annoys our old Bonsai, but as you say, we all needed to step out of our comfort zone!
Love It. Thank You for The Update. Truly Beautiful.
Thanks, Zeyani. Your interest and support means a lot.
Both my cats are rescue cats, KoKo and James make my life a better place just by being in it. I smile and laugh out loud more because of them.
Rescue is the way to go. And it's good to see your two are getting along so well.
That Safe Room training/introduction method never fails.
I'm a big believer in rescues, and hoping more people will get the message and give it a try. Trust me, the dogs at the breeder are not "better." The most remarkable animal companions in my life were shelter pets, and they need (and deserve) to be given a chance. Thanks for adding your voice of experience, Eve.
We adopted a rescue dog. She was named Chaos, which we changed to Katie. She is a Cairn Terrier were told, but she doesn't meet all the descriptions of the breed, so we have our doubts. She lived outside with 20 other dogs in a pen year round. She had been bred very young , under one year of age. Our daughter purchased one of her pups at a pet store. After much sleuthing we found the owner. Turns out she had just been diagnosed with terminal cancer and was in the process of selling her dogs. That was four years ago. It has been a learning experience for us. She had not been socialized and had a lot of baggage. We are so glad that we could improve her life, but we will never be able to tell her how wonderfully she has improve ours.. A friend who breeds Border Collies says that she is more wild than tame. She loves her life these days, but is quite fearful at times. It has been quite the journey, but love has won out.
She's lucky to have you. Not everyone is willing to take on the rescues with the tough backgrounds. Lack of socialization is a big problem, but not all rescues come with that kind of baggage. That is true, in large part, to rescue groups like HART who foster home kitties or keep them in a shelter with lots of volunteer contact. (I'm saying that not so much for you, Brenda, but for others who may be thinking about adopting.)
Love rescue Animals. I remember in my teen years, shortly after my mom kicked out the cat allergic Boyfriend, she stopped at the HUmane Society. we ended up with a cat that day. It was almost two, but some one had taken the kitten's brother. No one apparently wanted the little shy cat who walked with a limp. we didn't mind. We'd been petless for too long.
Not too long after my great-grand mother was sent to a nursing home and her little dog, a toy poodle, came to our house to live, because he liked my mom the best out of everyone who was willing to take him.
I'd never seen a dog and cat curled up together before. I knew they could get along, but these two would sit on the back of the couch (dog and cat were about the same size) curled up, butt to butt, watching the driveway and napping.
We always claimed it was because the poodle grew up amoung cats and couldn't figure out if he was a cat or a human. :}
Pets are wonderful creature. Glad to see you've found two who get along well. :}
I think you and I are a lot alike. I tend to get the one with the limp. You might want to read my story about Jessie in one of my older blog posts: More Puppy: My Jessie"
Robin, sorry to have missed your comment at first. For some reason it got held up under spam.
I was on your Facebook page, in your photo albums, looking at pictures of iridescent clouds, and I noticed that your feral cat looks a lot like a bigger, older Jordan!
I love the name Bonsai for a cat.
Gorgeous black cat!
Thank you. I think he's pretty. I wish I knew why people don't tend to adopt black cats and dogs.