My fiancé and I had been looking at potential companion cats for our current fur baby on Pet Finder after we moved into our first apartment. We found the posting of Athena and fell in love. We decided to apply for her, not thinking we would get her, because she would already have many adoption applications.
We ended up getting an almost immediate response from AARF through Ginger. Only a day or two later, we were setting up a day to go meet her. Ginger was great with providing us with all of the information about the process; there would be a meeting with the cat, an interview and a tour of the home, and then if all goes well we would have a new fur baby!
When we got there, Ed and I were immediately impressed with how nice the place was! Each cat/cat family had their own room but there was a large communal space for them all to explore and socialize. Ginger also informed us of Athena’s own story, she and her 3 kittens had been rescued from nearby. It was then we also found out that we were Athena’s very first applicants just because of how shy she was!
When we decided it was time to go meet the little girl, she was in fact a bit shy, hiding under the couch and running away when we went to pet her. We did what I think any good people would do; give the baby time to open up. We stayed in the room with her, letting her get used to our smells and our voices while we also got used to her. After a couple minutes, the sweet girl did something AARF wasn’t expecting her to do, SHE came up to US for pets! Not only that, but the silly girl was chirping for us and doing somersaults! That was the moment I think all 4 of us knew that it was meant to be. Athena hadn’t even opened up to them like that!
We ended up having to wait for a couple weeks after the home check in order to bring Athena home. We found out was that Athena has stomatitis and had to have teeth removed. I remember how nervous Ginger was when she told us, we only told her that all that matters is Athena getting better.
We got to bring her home a week after her first procedure, and it took her a couple days to really be comfortable near us. After getting her a couple toys and spending time with her, she got pretty comfortable. Our other cat, Miss Kitty Face, took some time to warm up to her (she’s kind of a grump). Now, she can’t deny Athena cuddle time. In November, it will have been a year since we brought home our beautiful girl, and we are so happy to have her. She is now a Florida girl and is working on figuring out the catio at her grandpawrent’s house! She still loves her window seats!”
We are so happy for Athena and her forever family!
