The Randall’s Rescue Adoption Experience

I thought it would be nice to share about my experiences adopting from Randall’s Rescue. Back in February, I lost my 19 ½ year-old cat to cancer. He was my first cat and I couldn’t have asked for a better companion. Socks was with me through college and graduate school, actually throughout half of my own life and all of his. I was horribly sad to lose him and he left a big void in my life. The house was too quiet! Although I thought I wouldn’t want to adopt another cat, I quickly realized that I had more love to give.

I heard about Randall’s Rescue from people in my neighborhood. My husband and I started looking at the website, just to see if any of the cats caught our eye. For a couple of weeks, we looked at pictures and read their stories. When we came to the picture of Cheeto, we couldn’t help but fall in love with him. Cheeto was an orange tabby kitten with a white nose, 4 months old. What gave us pause was that he was found in a crawl space with his sister, Triscuit, a dilute Calico, also 4 months old. A bonded pair, they were both adorable, but we were unsure about having two kittens.

Cheeto Triscuit in their Foster Home

I filled out the adoption application and was contacted by Cindy Randall the next day. We scheduled a meet & greet for a couple of days later. We drove about 45 minutes to the home of the volunteer who was fostering Cheeto & Triscuit. She welcomed us into her home and introduced us. She knew we were unsure about adopting two kitties, but we also understood that they were a bonded pair, and the importance of keeping them together. After spending some time with them, we fell in love with both of them and knew that we were the right fit for them and vice versa.

The next step was for a volunteer to come out to do a home visit. This is such an important step, and while some people may not feel comfortable with this, it really is in the best interest of the kitties. The purpose is to make sure that the cat is going to a good home, and that there is a place for the cat to stay while getting accustomed to being in a new place. Once this step was completed, we set up a day and time to bring the kittens home. The entire process took just a few days.

We set up food and a litter box in a guest room. There were few hiding places in this room- underneath the bed was really their only option. For about a week, we went into the bedroom each evening to spend time with them. We let them get used to us being in the room, and pretty soon they were on the bed playing with us. Once they stopped hiding and starting getting curious about what was outside the bedroom door, we let them out and they ran free around the house. They got comfortable with us and with the house pretty quickly. Cheeto loved to lay on the couch and cuddle, and Triscuit loved to be where her brother was.

About a month after we brought them home, Cheeto started acting a little bit different. He seemed a little bit lethargic and not quite himself. I also thought his belly looked very large and round compared to the rest of his body, and didn’t remember him having that shape before. Unfortunately, it turned out that he was very sick with an incurable and fatal virus, Feline Intestinal Peritonitis (FIP).  FIP is tragic, difficult to diagnose, and uncommon. Having lost a cat only a few months earlier, we were devastated. The vet gave us our options, and we did our best to keep Cheeto comfortable. When it became clear that this was no longer possible, we brought him back to the vet. We loved him for the short time we had him, but we were so grateful to have been able to give him a home and love and medical treatment when he needed it. Nobody could have known that poor Cheeto had this virus- everyone did all they could for him. Fortunately Triscuit has shown no evidence of the virus.

Cheeto & Triscuit, Together at Home

I contacted Randall’s Rescue after Cheeto became ill, because I wanted them to know in case there were other kittens in his litter (there were not). They were of course saddened by the news, and made us feel good about the care and love we gave him. We were concerned about Triscuit being alone- she was of course looking for her brother and we thought that we should consider another kitten to keep her company. Cindy was great about giving us time to think about what we wanted to do, but also helped us to feel optimistic about making the decision to find a companion for Triscuit. Knowing we had a Maine Coon mix before, she suggested Aslan, who was found living outside in Cherry Hill with his kitty family. He was the same age as Triscuit and used to being around other cats. We were hesitant, but agreed to meet him. He was very friendly and loving and enjoyed having his head rubbed. We decided that he would be a good companion for Triscuit and for us. Since we had recently been through the adoption process, there was nothing else we had to do except bring him home. Aslan is now known as Rocky, and Triscuit loves him! They play and cuddle and we think Cheeto brought him to us for a reason.

Aslan, now Rocky!

Rocky &Triscuit at Home Together

We thought our home was complete, but it turns out we were wrong! We started seeing pictures of another cat, two year-old Scout, on Randall’s Rescue’s Facebook page. I messaged Cindy to inquire about him, and she responded right away. She told me that Scout was likely Rocky’s father, as he was found with him in Cherry Hill. Scout needed some more time- he was more wary of people and wasn’t ready for adoption quite as quickly as Rocky was. We kept thinking about him, and knew that at age two, he might have a hard time finding a home. We decided that we still had some love to give, and asked if we could meet him. Cindy worked it out with us to have Scout come meet us, and of course, we fell in love with him too. Knowing that we had given a loving home to several other rescues, Cindy agreed to leave him with us that day. He loves to head butt and cuddle and he enjoys playing with his son and Triscuit too. Scout is now named Yogi and he has completed our little family.

Randall’s Rescue did an amazing job caring for these kitties, socializing them and getting them ready for a loving home. They made the process very easy for us each and every time. I would recommend that anyone looking to adopt a cat (or four) contact Randall’s Rescue!

Rocky, formerly Aslan & Yogi, formerly Scout!

Yogi, Triscuit and Rocky <3