<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div dir="ltr"><span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div dir="ltr"><span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div dir="ltr"><span></span></div><div dir="ltr"><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div>"I think they deserve to live out their senior years together in a real home with people willing to accept not-so-perfect cats." Welcome to Caturday.</div><div><br></div><div>Courtesy of the Times Herald-Record (Middletown, New York) at:</div><div><br></div><div><a href="https://www.recordonline.com/news/20190509/shelter-tails-bff-cats-are-odd-couple-in-need-of-home?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link&ICID=ref_fark">https://www.recordonline.com/news/20190509/shelter-tails-bff-cats-are-odd-couple-in-need-of-home?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link&ICID=ref_fark</a></div><div><br></div>——————————————-</div><div dir="ltr"><span style="caret-color: rgb(35, 35, 35); color: rgb(35, 35, 35); font-family: Oswald, "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 2.75em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Shelter Tails: BFF cats are an odd couple in need of a home</span><div><br></div><div><div>Almost three years after adopting Meelo, I still feel pangs of guilt at not adopting Nate and Stripes. I wanted either a black cat or a brown tabby cat. I could only adopt one, and black Nate and tabby Stripes could not be separated. They are BFFs (Best Feline Friends) at the Humane Society of Blooming Grove.</div><div><br></div><div>The shocking thing is, they didn’t come to the shelter together but have rarely been apart from each other for the last nine years.</div><div><br></div><div>Stripes, born to a feral mom, came to HSBG in 2009 as a kitten. His mother was just adopted this year. Nate came to the shelter a stray kitten in 2010.</div><div><br></div><div>“They aren’t ever more than 10 feet apart,” said Egan. “One or other will go off on their own, but ultimately, they look for each other. When they settle, they settle together. Occasionally they bat each other like grumpy old men, but the bat fights never last more than a few minutes.”</div><div><br></div><div>Both male cats do not show well to potential adopters. Besides being a bonded pair (most adopters only want one), they are independent when it comes to humans.</div><div><br></div><div>“Nate will let you hold him in certain circumstances,” said HSBG board member Carol Egan. “Stripes prefers to be petted but not held. Neither is a real cuddler.”</div><div><br></div><div>They are healthy, but they may not look it, depending on the season.</div><div><br></div><div>“Stripes has a chronic runny eye condition made worse in the spring and fall with seasonal allergies,” said Egan. “Nate tends to over-groom himself in the winter, causing him to lose his hair, mostly on the lower half of his body. We call him ‘No Pants Nate.’</div><div><br></div><div>“They just have these quirks that require a little bit of understanding that there’s nothing medically wrong with them.”</div><div><br></div><div>What cat doesn’t have quirks? Meelo still occasionally attacks Bella. Bella still has a weight problem and can’t groom herself properly. Both have voracious appetites. No cat is perfect.</div><div><br></div><div>Nate and Stripes are OK with other cats but not dogs. They need a quiet home with someone who understands they might not be the most affectionate cats, but if approached in the right way, they will be great companions.</div><div><br></div><div>Nate and Stripes have watched countless other felines come and go through the years, and it’s heartbreaking.</div><div><br></div><div>“I think, as with many other animals,” she said, “they deserve to live out their senior years together in a real home with people willing to accept not-so-perfect cats.”</div></div><div><br></div><div>——————<br><div><br></div><div>Photo . . .</div><div><br></div><div>Seniors Nate and Stripes have been waiting for a home together for nine years, since kittenhood, at the Humane Society of Blooming Grove. They need a quiet retirement home with understanding adopters.</div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://www.tomandrodna.com/MoscowCares/Caturday/Caturday_051119.jpg">http://www.tomandrodna.com/MoscowCares/Caturday/Caturday_051119.jpg</a></div><div><br></div><div>——————————————</div><div><br></div><div><b>“Caturday”</b> by Linus Petit</div><div><a href="http://www.tomandrodna.com/MoscowCares/Caturday/Caturday_by_Linus_Petit.mp3">http://www.tomandrodna.com/MoscowCares/Caturday/Caturday_by_Linus_Petit.mp3</a><br><br><div dir="ltr"><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)</span></div><div><a href="http://www.moscowcares.com/" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000">http://www.MoscowCares.com</font></a></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></div><div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Tom Hansen</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Moscow, Idaho</span></div></div><div><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>