[Not sure which is the most appropriate usenet group for just general cat
discussion. This one, while being the most heavily trafficked, also seems to
have the most flamewars and noise.]

My sweet Ariel, who adopted me in April of 1990, passed away this weekend.
Even after just a few days without, I knew I needed to find a new kitty. I
decided to pay my first visit to the local Humane Society (Champaign, IL
pop.150,000). I'd heard and read various and sundry things about the Humane
Society over the years, ranging from praise, to horror stories. Knowing that
the quality of the HS varies depending on city, I really didn't know what to
expect.

I got there at 5:00, an hour before closing. The first thing that struck me
was the sheer number of people browsing pets. The person I spoke with said
they do 10-30 cat adoptions per day. Cats and dogs are kept completely
separate; I concentrated solely in the felines. I would roughly estimate
between 100 and 150 cats were there. The majority in cages, some sharing
cages, but never more than 3, and only in the larger cages. Those with
special feeding needs and/or those on certain treatments were isolated in
separate cages. The cats all seemed well fed. While a lot were sleeping (hot
weather will do that), I didn't see any that appeared in any distress. A lot
of talkative souls, a myriad of cats wanting to both give and receive
affection. A much wider array of breeds than I would have expected.

There were two "social rooms" that had several couches, a dozen or so "cat
trees," baskets, and carpeted pillars. In each room were 10-20 of the more
"sociable" cats, free to roam and interact. Plenty of food and clean litter.
Each of the cages and rooms had information sheets in plastic about each
cat, showing the cat's name, a picture, age, gender, neuter status, declaw
status, temperment, special diet requirements, and date admitted.

Plenty of help (volunteers) around to answer questions, or help you take a
cat to one of the smaller "Get Acquainted" rooms. I asked them about
euthanasia, and they said that the only time they euthanized was if (1)
there were major health problems, or (2) the cat was so socially maladjusted
that it presented a danger to a potential owner or other cats. I was
surprised to find cats that had been there for over a year. This HS
apparently go out of their way to NOT euthanize an animal just because it's
been there longer.

The person I spoke with lamented the comparative difficulty in adopting out
adult cats; "everybody wants kittens." I'm guessing that's a big issue with
families with children who only want "cute widdle kitties." This HS has
taken an interesting approach to that: cats less than 1 year old are $100 to
adopt, older than 1 year are $75. I had already made up my mind that if I
were going to adopt, it would be an adult cat. I want to help by adopting a
cat that might not otherwise find a home.

The adoption fee covers current shots (except rabies), testing for Feline
Leukemia, and microchipping. Two things I found interesting: You cannot take
the cat home with you right then and there. There is a mandatory 24-hour
waiting period, for two purposes: (1) helps avoid spur-of-the-moment
adoption decisions, and (2) allows the cat to be given a final medical
checkup before leaving. Also, you are required to take the cat to a
veterinarian within 3 business days of adoption (rabies shot, county
registration, verification of fitness).

I fell in love with a gorgeous cat named Sadie. She's about 2 years old,
pure black with gold eyes, and long hair (not sure what breed... long hair
and poofy tail, but not the squished face of a Persian). When I picked up
the puffball and placed her on my shoulder, she was immediately purring
loudly and kneading my arm. Very happy kitty. Placed on the floor, she would
jump up onto the chair next to me and either (1) want to walk onto my lap,
or (2) plop down on the chair staring at me while flexing her paws happily.

So I signed up for an adoption.

Overnight, I kept thinking it over, and came to the decision that rather
than just one, I should get Sadie a companion, since I tend to work long
hours and am away most of the day. So back I went today, and instead of
picking Sadie up, spent time introducing other cats to her, in order to see
who might be compatible. After a few aborted attempts (1) a huge muscular
male "alley cat" that was the biggest fraidy cat ever, and just hid under a
chair after Sadie batted at his nose... wimp, and (2) an extremely talkative
older lady that was just too old and crotchety to deal with a young
whippersnapper, one of the staff suggested that since Sadie came from one of
the "social rooms" maybe I should try one of the 20 cats that had been in
there with her. Oh... DUH! Sheesh, I should have thought of that.

So I go into the room to see what cat personalities are available, and over
lopes "Goldy" (love the cat, hate the name), and he decides to make my
acquaintence... forcefully. When I picked him up, he immediately meowed,
licked my ear, and started chewing on my hair, purring softly. Mkay. I
placed him in the room with Sadie, and after a quick "*sniff* Hey, I know
you!" the two of them just went about their exploring and playing, very much
at ease with one another. I spied on them for a little bit from outside of
the room to see if any problems would develop. Nah... S'all good.

Sooo.... as of now I'm scheduled to pick them both up tomorrow after work.
Gotta pick up another cat carrier though. I found out afterwards that they
encourage people to adopt cats in pairs, so there's no adoption fee for the
second cat. I would have paid it anyway, so I'm going to give part of the
second cat fee as a voluntary donation.

Overall, I feel a lot better about the Humane Society (at least our local
chapter) than I did beforehand. They seem to do very nice work there and
genuinely care for the animals.

-Dan