We (John & Linda) recently lost the third of three cats who were with us when we met, got married and bought a house together. All three shared our lives in good times and bad. Sadly, all three died within a 15-month span – two of old age (18 and 15) and the third from cancer at age 13. We quickly realized that we each had not been without cats in our lives for decades, and the silence was deafening. Enter Hopalong Rescue!
Once we were ready to start looking for new kitties, we decided we wanted to adopt two cats, so they would each have a playmate, and hoped that they would already be bonded so that they did not have to adapt to both a new house AND a new friend. Fortunately, a kind volunteer at the Oakland Animal Shelter (thanks Ann!) directed us to Hopalong, which had just rescued two adorable feline sisters and placed them in foster care. In researching these two, we found that they were very bonded and enjoyed cuddling with each other – sounded like the perfect pair for us. We visited with their foster mom and fell in love! After a short wait for them to recover from being spayed, we met with Trisha at Hopalong to do the paperwork. Trisha was awesome and obviously LOVES what she is doing. We were also very impressed with the clean and comfortable Hopalong offices – there's no doubt they all love and respect their animal clients. We were excited to take the sisters home that day, and
after much discussion, renamed them Lindy and Scarlet.
So how are they doing? Fantastic! After a day or two of hiding under the couch, they have warmed up and let their personalities blossom. They're healthy and playful. They love playing hide and seek, running around the house, playing with toys. When it's time to chill, they love to sit in the window watching birds or cuddle together, even grooming each other every night. They have brought much love and joy to our lives, and our house has the pitter-patter of little paws again.
We can't thank Hopalong enough for taking such good care of their animals. Hopalong is an outstanding organization that provides a valuable and important service to the animal lover community. We were able to learn more about our kitties than we would from an animal shelter, and their loving foster mom (thanks Amy!!) cared for them and made the transition that much smoother. Although adopting from Hopalong is a bit more expensive than many animal shelters, it was worth every penny as we felt SO much more comfortable adopting from people who obviously care so much. Most city animal shelters do a great job too, but the sheer numbers of animals prevent them from giving the same kind of personal attention as Hopalong.
So, thank you so much Hopalong – we are very grateful!
John & Linda Waldman
plus Lindy & Scarlet!
Alameda, CA
Photo: Scarlet (L) cuddles with sister Lindy on the couch
