Help Wanted: Shop Cat

I may have mentioned earlier that Sean and I bought a store.  It's called Wild Birds Unlimited, and we now sell bird food, bird houses, nesting boxes, bird baths, and a bunch of outdoorsy, nature-themed gifts and books.  It's kind of cool, actually.

We decided pretty early on in the process we were going to have a shop cat.  Then it evolved into having two shop cats.  Then we decided maybe we should think about fostering cats at the store, so that we could help find homes for more of them.  We went to several shelters in the area over the last few months just seeing who might be interested in joining us as our new buddy.

One of the cats I met a few months ago really tugged at my heartstrings.  We met at the PetSmart, and she locked eyes with me in a way I've seldom experienced outside of Wanda and Otto.  Her name is Kasey, and I promised her back in August that if she didn't get adopted by the time we opened the store, she could come live with me in the store and be our shop cat.  I kept checking on her through the months, and even went by to visit.  Every time I went, she was in quarantine for an illness.  Then one day she disappeared off the website.  I feared the worst.  I didn't ask.  

Then, one day after we'd only been open a couple of weeks, an older gentleman came in to our store just to browse.  We started talking and he mentioned he'd just recently adopted a cat from the shelter.  "Which shelter?"  I asked.  Hilton Head Humane.  (Interesting.)  "What does she look like?" I asked.  He proceeded to describe Kasey.  My heart did a little flip.  I asked him if her name was Kasey before he adopted her, and his eyes grew wide.  Turns out I'd just met Kasey's new Big Buddy in our store, and I realized, not for the first time, that the world is an infinitely weird and miraculous place.  It made me happy to know I hadn't broken my promise to her.  She had found a home, just not the one I thought she would end up having.  In a really nice gesture, he offered to let me have her after I told him my connection to her, but of course I declined.  She'd found her forever home, and I'm so happy for her.

This weekend I went to Palmetto Animal League, another local no-kill shelter.  I immersed myself (for not nearly enough time) in Tuxies and black cats and a cute little dilute tortie who reminded me of a cross between Wanda and Zelda, but much more timid.  The Tuxies were breaking my heart--all so winning and friendly and none of them with homes.  Elroy and Leon kept swimming up in my consciousness, reminding me of what I'd lost.  I met an orange tabby female who looked exactly like what Mango might have looked like if she hadn't been as emotionally damaged as she was.  This orange tabby was confident and playful--the exact opposite of Mango, but perhaps what Mango might have wished for herself if she could have been different.  

Then I stumbled across this one cat, blue-eyed and tiny.  A long-haired Siamese-y girl who was probably Balinese or a mix.  I was smitten.  Something about her just called out to me, and when I pet her, and she flipped over on her back to show me her tummy, I had a strong sense that perhaps I'd found our new teammate.  A cat laid-back enough to show her belly to a stranger in a shelter was probably a cat that was relaxed enough to be a shop cat.  I can't stop thinking about her.  

Stay tuned.