New Beginings

This past weekend Malcolm and I continued our search for our first UK apartment. Earlier we had seen seven different properties in Fife county, where Malcolm works. Two or three of those properties had caught our eye, but for one reason or another we decided to wait and continue our search.

Fast forward to last Saturday... We had an appointment to see one apartment right on the Firth of Forth, the waterway that connects Edinburgh to the ocean. When we arrived, the realtor recognized us from our previous viewings. She was extreemly helpful, and queued up two more viewings for us that afternoon. The second place was furnished beautifully, but had bad feng shui (and was a fourth floor walk up, ug!). The third place was unfurnished, with nice wood floors; open and airy. It was also the largest of the three, with three double bedrooms, a utility room with a washing machine, a large kitchen and bathroom, and a good sized living room. We could have lived in any of the three apartments.

The realtor asked us which one we liked the best. Before we could make a decision, though, we asked which property would let us have a cat. She told us she would make inquiries, then get back to us. So we held our decision until she got back to us.

After our apartment hunt it was time to begin our kitty hunt. Malcolm and I have been talking about getting a pet cat for some time. We both agreed that now was the time to do it. Even though we're not in our new apartment yet, I'm not working, so I'll be home during the day to help the cat adjust to its new family. We started our search at the local Cat Protection agency. This agency recieves stray cats, rescued kittens, and cats that are no longer wanted by their owners.

Malcolm and I walked into the chaos of the cat enclosures and immediatly saw a frisky black kitten. We both looked at each other nodded. We queued up to discus our choice with the agency volunteer. Once she aknowledged us we asked about the black kitten. Sorry, she said, it has just been spoken for. She then told us which kittens were still available. All of the domesticated kittens had been spoken for, but there were some semi-feral kittens that were still skittish, but would make excellent housecats with some kindness and patient handeling. She said that she also had an older kitten that the agency guessed was somewhere between six and eight months old. It had to be recovered from its former owner becasue she couldn't afford to feed it, and it had been starved. The cat had also been let outside to look for food, but had gotten into fights and was a little scratched up.

We decided to look at the older kitten first. The cat protection agency had run out of cage space and had put the kitten in the bathroom with another cat. We walked in and were greeted by an orange a white kitty that was almost full grown. The cat was very skinny and had some scratches on its face. I started petting it, and Malcolm picked it up; it started purring very loudly. After a few minutes with this docile animal I told Malcolm that I liked the idea of giving this cat a new home and lots of love to help it recover from its early life. He agreed. We went back to the lady that was helping us, and she told us that we couldn't have it if we wanted a housecat, as the cat had been used to going outside. Dejected, Malcolm and I tried playing with the feral kittens to see if any of them were friendly or social enough for us. After some scraches (on both of us), some hissing, and a lot of skittishness we decided not to get any of them...

As we were leaving the agency Malcolm wondered aloud if the orange and white kitten really needed to go outside, as it seemed content in the small bathroom. I agreed. All night we talked about how we really liked the orange cat....

The next day we went back and told the lady that we really wanted the orange cat, and would be flexible with its needs. She said okay, and told us we could pick it up next Saturday, as it was scheduled to get nuetered on Wednesday. WooHoo!

On Monday the Realtor contacted us to say that the two of the three apartments would let us have a cat. We decided to go for the unfurnished three bedroom.

Now we get to buy furniture, and plan for our new cat! His shelter name is Fizz, but we're not sure if we'll keep that name or change it to Hobbes. Malcolm and I are both excited about our new cat and our new Apartment!