In my last column, I wrote that I was looking for a cat to replace a cat named Daisy who had to be put to sleep because of a serious medical condition that couldn’t be cured by a vet.  

A few days after the column was printed, I was contacted by Sarah of The Democrat who had received a phone call from Dave Swart, requesting my contact information. Dave Swart and Maryjean Risko, a Woodbourne couple, had adopted Meadow seven weeks earlier. Meadow is a half-sibling of their male cat, Josey, who became aggressive toward Meadow after she was spayed, and the situation was only getting worse. Dave and Maryjean had become very fond of Meadow in those few weeks. As much as they wanted to keep her, they decided that re-homing Meadow would be best for both cats. We all agreed that it may have been fate that Maryjean happened to read my column at the time that they were faced with this decision. She felt that my home would be a good place for Meadow and asked Dave to get in touch with me. My initial reaction was to let it go because I didn’t want to disrupt the remaining weeks or months of life for my son’s dog. I decided to reach out anyway and get the cat’s story. Then I saw her photo... !

Meadow is acclimating very well. She leaned into and purred during a neck scratch while still in her carrier when she first arrived. However, at the first opportunity, she ran under the sofa when nobody was in the room. On the second evening, she got up on my bed, purring loudly when petted, even rolling onto her back for belly rubs. In spite of this, she spent most of the next day hiding out under my bed. In the days since, she is spending less time under the bed. My son’s dog, Andy, who happens to be very fond of cats, arrived on the scene two days ago. He and Meadow are very interested in each other, but neither have ventured into their three feet of divide. Andy seems to understand that he has to wait until Meadow is ready. It was disappointing to all of us, and especially to Andy, that my previous cat, Daisy, never warmed up to him.