Holiday Recap, Part 3: Harriet Wants to Go Home for the Holidays

One of the weirder aspects of cat rescue is realizing people often have a vision of what they want to adopt. Even the biggest cat lovers among us have preferences: Justin and I tend to gravitate toward big tabbies, while Stephanie has a soft spot for shy calicos. We know that there will always be takers for kittens and there will also be a subset of people who want to adopt the 11-year-old hissy cat that will never make it out of a shelter otherwise. Thank goodness all those groups (especially the latter) exist.

That's why, I suspect, that it's been hard to find a person who will adopt Harriet (http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/27630774). To me, she's a beautiful cat - a brown tabby, still young, who grows in confidence every day. But brown tabbies are common. So I want to tell you what makes Harriet special.

When she first started out at Stephanie's a month ago, she was a scaredy cat, and very protective of her kitten, Dickon. Yesterday she grabbed a chunk of cheese from the table and ran to put it under the Christmas tree. I'd like to think she was working on something special for her foster mother. Every day she grows more trusting of people, and while she was sad to be separated from Dickon and her other cat friend, Frankie, she knows her day is coming. After all, she's named after Harriet the Spy, a character known for her moxie.

Adopting a cat is a little bit like dating, and rescue people are matchmakers. We're hoping that Harriet's life partner or partners are out there and we can find them for her. Somewhere there's someone who is looking for a young female brown tabby who likes ear scratching, and will get along with dogs, cats and older kids. He, she or they are out there - we're hoping they come forward before the holiday season is over. If you want to help, please share Harriet's photos on Facebook and her Petfinder listing.
Happy Holidays!
-Elizabeth