HAPPY CAT TAILS

Murphy’s Finally Home

And we are so thankful…all of us

He may look a bit grumpy in the photo but our new boy, Murphy is anything but.

We finally did it, folks. Adopted, after all the pissing and moaning about whether or not we should bring a new life into our home and hearts after losing our sweet boy, Dooley, in June. But, we did it, and are thrilled with our six-year-old, Maine Coon mix, Murphy.

Murphy is our first tuxedo cat and as is their rep, he is as sweet as can be with a chill personality. That was non-negotiable as we didn’t want to upset our resident kitties, Conor and Lorna.

It took a while for this to happen over and above my stewing about it. When Murphy’s foster caregiver first brought him to us, we did all the right things for acclimating a new cat to the household.

We sequestered him in his own, comfy room and just let him be and settle in. Conor and Lorna were naturally “askance,” but, other than some minor hissing, Lorna, especially, was more curious than pissed off.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case with Murphy. He hid behind a sofa and rarely came out, even to eat and use the litter box. Naturally, I was concerned and also afraid that I’d made the wrong decision.

I know. I know. I’m embarrassed about that, but I felt terrible for him.

I visited him frequently and as I said, rarely saw him. On a couple of occasions, he came out and let me pet and caress him, but he seemed miserable.

And then he sneezed. And kept on sneezing. And when he started crying, I knew something was wrong.

Then, when he approached me practically begging for help, I sprung into action. I called our vet and made an appointment for that day. And then I called the foster care worker, Joyce, and told her what had transpired.

Thankfully, she offered to pick up Murphy (formerly named Sylvester), take him to her own vet and keep him until he was one-hundred-percent well.

As I suspected, Murphy had contracted an upper respiratory infection from some of the kittens Joyce was fostering. And, I agreed to let her take him back for the duration because above all, I was concerned about our two kitties. I would have been devastated if they’d caught the virus, which is very infectious. Pretty much one sneeze in the face is all it takes.

The poor guy. His eyes were all gummy and his nose was runny. Factor that in with the congestion and you have a prescription for abject kitty misery.

Joyce and I kept in constant touch and when Murphy was on the road to recovery, she sent me a picture as proof and his beautiful eyes were no longer half-shut.

We set the date for Murphy’s “redelivery,” and once again, I prepared his room. And this time, when he came to us, I was still nervous AF, but also, excited. This was meant to be, and I felt it.

Whenever you introduce a new cat to your resident cats, you have to be prepared to give it time, anywhere from a week to months, in some cases. And you can’t rush the process or risk screwing things up, big time.

As it turns out, because Murphy was used to being around lots of other cats, as well as dogs, he was completely non-threatening to our ginger boy and our little princess. We were able to let him start exploring his forever home after about a week in stir.

What a glorious moment that is, to watch your new cat and resident cats interact without any fur flying! Sure, there was some hissing, but not a shred of aggression between them. And, when they started to sniff each other’s butts and trade kitty kisses, we knew we were home free.

Every day, Murphy reveals a little more of himself. For example, he’s a bit of a fussy eater as he’ll only tolerate Fancy Feast. Apparently, that’s what he was given in foster care and FF is his preference. And from what I’ve learned, he likes only one or two varieties. I’m still not certain if it’s pate or the kind drenched in gravy.

Now, we feed our cats the best, most nutritious food we can afford. Fancy Feast isn’t terrible as they’ve upped their game a bit and millions of cats have lived long, healthy lives on it, but we prefer brands like Wellness and Merrick. Petco’s house brand is also very good, protein-rich, grain-free, and affordable.

That said, Murphy turns up his cute, little nose at anything other than FF. Even with that, he never cleans his bowl, so this is something we’re trying to figure out. It’s a process, for sure, but, we’re up to it. As long as he’s happy and healthy, we’re good.

He does feel heavier than the twelve and a half pounds Joyce said he weighed. I don’t know about that one. As soon as he’s a bit more settled in, we’ll introduce him to our longtime vet, for a wellness check.

What I love: Hugging Murphy is like snuggling up with a little bear cub. Not that I ever have, but I imagine it’s pretty close. He loves kisses and head-to-head nuzzles and delivers long, soulful looks that melt my heart.

One thing Murphy’s not too jazzed about and that’s grooming, which must be done daily, ideally, to avoid knots. As I said, it’s a process and we’ll get there.

Our home has lots of cozy cubbies for Murphy to “take five” in and I believe he’s found them all. Every night, after his dinner, he skedaddles down to the basement to sack out on a sofa there. Later in the night he’ll come up and spare us a few moments of his time, but when we go to bed, so does he, and we’re never sure where. He did sleep with us a couple of nights, which was lovely. He even stretched out on my chest for a snooze!

Joyce told us that Murphy was “active” at night and hell, she wasn’t kidding. In the wee hours, he starts caroling. Others would call it “crying.” But, I’m not sure that’s it. I’d like to believe that Murphy is raring to go at the buttcrack of dawn and wants us to follow suit.

Or, maybe we need more night lights. I’ll have to get on that. I admit, I’m somewhat of a slave to our three furkids, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I know that as the days go by and Murphy feels increasingly comfortable in his forever home, he’ll blossom into full-tilt magnificence. That said, I wouldn’t change a hair on his head as he’s magnificent just as he is. But, then, they all are, right?

© Sherry McGuinn, 2022. All Rights Reserved.

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Sherry McGuinn is a slightly-twisted, longtime Chicago-area writer and award-winning screenwriter. She is currently pitching her newest screenplay, “The Month We Fell Apart,” a drama with dark, comedic overtones inspired by a true story, as well as “DEAD TIRED,” a female-driven, ass-kicking thriller.