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Leeloo came to us
as “Betsy” from the PetSmart Rt 110/Huntington location. Six months
prior, our senior cat had to be put down after a long downward
spiral with kidney issues/disease and a body that was not as lively
as Shane’s spirit. We adopted him as a senior, so we knew we
wouldn’t have 20 years, but we had hoped for more. The time we did
have was wonderful, but especially the time we had with him growing
close to our daughter from her birth. My husband and I, but mostly
I, swore that we would never get another cat, as Shane was such a
special cat and could never be replaced. Our two and a half year old
daughter, however, was devastated by the loss of her very best
friend in the whole world of her short life. She talked about him
daily and woke in tears every morning. We suspected that it was
dreams of Shane or waking to find him not there to greet her as he
was guaranteed to do every morning of her life. She was sad and she
missed him and started emphatically asking when he was coming home,
even though we had explained that he wasn’t coming back, the hurt
was just too much for her.
So one day I saw a
posting on a message board about an orange and white kitten that was
found in our Brooklyn neighborhood and suggested to dad that we meet
this cat and see if it’s not fate. Our daughter knew what we were up
to when her daddy kept asking if she liked the cat. However, this
was not fate and this kitten was not our cat. A few weeks later, we
were at a Petco and my husband was drawn to a black and white tuxedo
cat. He felt a connection, but I didn’t and our daughter seemed
indifferent. We got very close to adopting this one, but again, it
wasn’t fate and he turned out to be promised to someone else. This
did open our eyes and hearts to the realization that we were
absolutely ready and sure that we wanted another cat. Especially
when our daughter started saying that she wanted a new cat: “A big
bwack one.”
Our next stop was Last Hope and on a trip to Long Island and pumpkin
picking, we stopped at the center on Jericho Turnpike. We met a
kitten that had my daughter laughing more than we had seen in
months. My husband and I were unsure of this kitten’s frisky
personality, but we filled out the application and the volunteer
suggested we go to the PetSmart on 110. Fate was with us that. The
center and set-up at PetSmart was beautiful and “Betsy,” an
overweight, black and white adult tuxedo caught my eye, because of
her striking markings, but we looked over every cat there. Our
daughter put both hands on the cage and said, “I want this one.” It
was “Betsy.” We spent a lot of time with her in the little meeting
room and she was very calm and serene, patient with our excited two
year old daughter who was eager to have a friend to love, hug and
pet again. She was also curious about the carriage holding our six
month old baby. I was getting choked up, because I knew she was our
cat, this time without a doubt.
The volunteers were wonderful! They let us spend as much time as we
wanted with “Betsy” and we did. With our geographic location, we had
to wait nearly a week for her to come to our house—we never expected
a delivery, but it was really nice—and Milda was familiar with the
area too. The adjustment period wasn’t long and “Betsy” was renamed
“Leeloo” within a day or so. Of course there were a couple of
scratches in the first week. Our old cat grew up with our daughter
and loved hugs, but Leeloo had no experience with children or much
affection. But I was impressed that she let me give her a full bath
without much fuss and actually seemed thankful for it by purring and
rubbing on me afterwards.
Here we are four months later and she knows this is her home and
every day feels more secure and accepts love and play. I don’t think
she’ll ever be a lap cat, but she now snuggles, gives kisses, loves
to be brushed and adores being petted and scratched by our now three
year old daughter and nearly 10 month old son (but only when he’s
calm and nursing). And boy does the baby get excited when she lets
him touch her silky soft coat! She also loves my dad as if he’s her
own Grandpa and greets him with as much enthusiasm as the kids! She
has become so social that wee recently had a birthday party for our
three year old and, to my surprise, Leeloo hung out for the majority
of the party. She wasn’t intimidated by the crowd, even with kids
and babies around. She feels that secure here and that made me
smile. She feels safe enough to now sleep with the three year old
and lets her pet her forwards, backwards, scratching and rubbing.
Our daughter loves to brush her—as she did Shane—and when she can’t
find the cat brush, she’ll substitute and use her toothbrush!
J
We are so happy to have Leeloo and grateful to Last Hope and the
universe for bringing us all together. She is a very special girl
and we can’t understand why more people don’t adopt adult cats, but
we’re ecstatic that she was there when we were ready for her to come
into our lives and our home. I’m happy to report that pretty much
since Leeloo got here, our daughter’s nightmares stopped and she no
longer wakes up crying our calling out to us. Leeloo helped all of
us heal, but really helped mend a little girl’s broken heart. That
means more to me and my husband than we can ever put into words. I
tell Leeloo every day how grateful we are for her and what she has
done for our family. Thank you all who were part of this adoption
and for bringing us together. I’ve attached a couple of pictures of
Leeloo here. I recommend to anyone to at least consider adopting an
adult cat. They are just as special or maybe more than any kitten.
Thank you again,
The Schweizer Family
Jan 27, 2007
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