Say Hi To Buddy

Well, we weren't sure we would do it this soon, but we have adopted another family member, a feline one.  After an exhaustive search for a cat purr-fect (hehe) for our family, we stumbled across a fantastic rescue facility in Concord, NC, called "Princeton's Meow."  This is a cage-free facility in which the adoptable cats are given a degree of freedom by not being as confined.  It is a house with several rooms, and each room has ten or so cats in it of varying colors, sizes, & personalities.  The volunteers there spend lots of hands-on time with the cats to get them acclimated to people and that really shows.  We were very impressed with this place and there were several cats that would have made a fine addition to the Bridges clan.

After an initial survey visit, we took the family back a second time.  We had every intention of bringing a set of brothers home named "Cowboy and Rocky" as they had temperaments that we felt would fit in very nicely.  However, the day before I (by myself) had stopped in for a spontaneous visit (happened to be in the area) and was introduced to a new cat they had just taken in named "Peanut."  He was a long-haired Maine Coon or Norwegian Forest Cat mix with a very sweet disposition and a hint of playfulness.  He was a rescue from a hoarding situation in which the owner had kept him and about 50 other cats inside a "chicken coop," ironically located in Dallas, NC, near where we used to live.  They had not been mistreated, but the gentleman had just came to the realization he couldn't take care of the growing horde he had accumulated.  I kept this cat as "a favorite" in my mind, but as mentioned, had every intention of bringing back the brothers.

However, when we got to Princeton's Meow, Nathan and "Peanut" became fast friends, and he made it very obvious to us that this was the creature that had his heart.  We signed some paperwork and took the guy home.  He has also underwent a name change (as to be fair to our existing "Pee", the names would have been so similar it would have been confusing).  Nathan had told me several weeks ago that he would love to use the name "Buddy" for our next cat.   After some discussion, we decided that name fit, and went with it.  We have him separated from the rest of the cats at the moment to get adjusted.  He's got a little bit of a sneeze at the moment, but had a clean medical report and is fixed.

His temperament is much like Hunter's, the cat we just lost.  Since bringing him home, we've discovered that he is very laid back, and is also very "chatty", making a warble sound as he walks around, and often talks back to you when you speak to him.  He has HUGE feet, which may be a predictor of his future size, as he is still just about a year old.  Huge feet are also a Maine Coon trait I've learned.  So far, our other two cats have sensed something's up, although they really haven't been around him yet.  Pee is "pouting." and Molly is just well, a bit ticked off at the idea of another cat, as we predicted.  He and Nathan seem to get along very well at this point.  He's a little more cautious of Ginny and her volume and sudden movements, but other than keeping his distance a bit, seems to be tolerant of her.

We're excited to have "Buddy" aka "Peanut" with us.