By Cynthia Armour
Eddie came to us as a shabby foster cat. He had a gum infection that made it painful for him to groom, and because of his FIV, and the severity of his condition, it was going to take a while to get him back into good health. Over the next several months Cat Town helped us cycle through medication, vet visits, and teeth removals until Eddie was out of pain. It took removing all but his last two teeth before he showed improvement, but after months of medical care and, I'd like to think, our boundless love for Eddie, he finally stabilized.
That's when Dawn, Cat Town’s Foster Coordinator, started trying to schedule a time for potential adopters to meet Eddie. This did not please me, which became evident after I was routinely "unavailable" to arrange visits.
Kyle and I eventually gathered up the courage to tell Dawn that, well, Eddie had become an important part of our lives, and that we couldn't imagine parting ways with him, but we were worried about the financial impact of taking on a cat with FIV.
I had just quit my job to pursue my graduate degree and we knew that significant vet bills were likely to be part of the deal with Eddie. I didn't want our financial insecurity to affect our decisions when it came to Eddie's health.
When Dawn said that Eddie could benefit from Cat Town's In It for Life program... I honestly couldn't believe it. The generosity and all-around thoughtfulness that Cat Town's wonderful representatives show in how they deal with their cats, fosters, and potential adopters is unlike anything I've ever encountered in any other animal care organization.
One year ago, we adopted Eddie from Cat Town. A year later, his two teeth are still doing great!
Eddie has been healthy since he became an official part of our family, and has somehow become even more loving. Seriously — in all my years of fostering I've never met a better cat-cuddler. He's a greeter, a watcher, a follower, a player, a dedicated purrer, a bathtub meower (that's less fun), a foot warmer... everything I could ask for and more. He traveled with us to Oregon for Christmas, he stayed in a trailer with us in Healdsburg, moved to Sacramento with me for the summer (and caught two mice! With just his two teeth!), has met quite a few dogs he didn't care about, and has never, ever forgotten to remind us about his meal time.
Kyle and I are so thankful to Cat Town for bringing us together, and to Eddie for being such a lovely, adoring little big cat.
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