Shelter Cats and Redemption

As 2015 draws to a close, I wanted to take a moment and say...... THANK YOU. Thank you all for reading, following, commenting, and supporting.   Thanks to you all, Tyler's memory lives on in this blog and the stories I get to share! A big thank you from the bottom of my heart. Have a safe and happy New Year and here's to an even better 2016!

The final Tyler Tuesday of 2015! Tyler in 2007 with Chloe, who briefly stayed with us before going to a forever home in Astoria, Queens.  Tyler's brief love affair.

Recently discovered photos of Tyler I thought were lost forever! Tyler in 2007.

I settled into my 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee to go to work yesterday, a rare cold Saturday morning in what has otherwise been unseasonably warm weather.  As I waited for my ancient Jeep's V6 to warm up, I noticed a small tuxedo cat run down the block.  He (I'm assuming it's a he) didn't notice me, but I noticed him.  He looked cold, skinny, hungry, more than a little scared, and desperate to get somewhere safe and away from danger.   Poor little dude, I thought.  If he noticed me I surely would have shared some of my ham and cheese sandwich with him, not that he would have even approached me.   My thoughts immediately went to Tyler.  He was a homeless cat too, stuck in a shelter with hundreds of other homeless cats.  A little more than fifteen years ago, he greeted me at the door when I first visited his shelter, and I was hooked for life. The next day, he was rescued from that shelter, and spent the rest of his life in a warm, safe home. ...

Tyler and Jackson, sharing a meal together, 2013.

Last night before going to bed I posted the following to my personal Facebook: I'll leave you with this thought:  I prefer cats to people. Goodnight.  So far, that post has gotten 52 likes and about 20 or so comments. What does that tell you?  I'm not alone.  Many it seems DO prefer cats to people.   So that has me thinking: why?  Why are cats better?  Why is it for the past fifteen years, ever since Tyler first exited his carrier and into my heart, that I have had better relations with felines than with humans? Am I just a crazy cat person, or is there some truth to this?  Are cats really better? The answer to that is easy.  Unconditional love.  Cats may have well invented the term unconditional love.  As I've written before, with a cat, you have to earn their trust, in my opinion more so than dogs.  With a dog, from my experience, you start out with trust and then it's the human's job to main...

Today, December 9th, marks fifteen years to the day that I brought Tyler home from the shelter.   To celebrate, I am reposting portions of the blog post I wrote back in April when I wrote about the events of the special day.  Without a doubt, adopting Tyler 15 years ago was the greatest thing I have ever done with my life. Now, back to the story: “I’m here to pick up Tyler.” I proudly exclaimed.  “Oh, Tyler’s going home?” One of the other shelter employees asked.  “That’s great, he deserves it!” He sure did. Just like the night before, Tyler was waiting for me at the front door.  Tail in the air, he was happy.  He just KNEW something was up.  I’m sure it’s the same with your cats, but especially with Tyler.  He always KNEW.  When I was going away, when I was leaving for work, he had this sixth sense.  Gayle was there, all smiles. “He’s waiting for you!”  That he was.  They should have put a little...