Our Family Has Shrunk

I've been very proud of our growing fur baby family. With already having two cats and then adding a dog into the mix a year ago, I was proud (and a bit amazed) that we were keeping it together so well. But, underneath the surface there were problems abrewin'.

Our sweet guy Linus was the first of the cats to accept the dog. But, when Charlie wanted to "play" all day long and Linus finally had enough, he wouldn't a high place to hide out. Rather, he just stayed on the floor, turning our living room into wrestle mania all day long. Le sigh.

One can only handle so much wrestling - cat/dog wrestle matches loose their cuteness real quick. But during all of our unhappiness, we finally realized that Linus was unhappy as well. I have no doubt that he loved the dog, but nevertheless, Charlie was cramping his style. Linus wanted to roll around and play, bat around toy mice, and really enjoy his youth.

We decided to do one of the hardest things ever and find Linus a new home. Double sigh. Giving away the pet that I once said was "my most favorite pet of all times" was terribly difficult. I felt so guilty and frustrated that not only could we not give Linus the home that he deserved, I couldn't even explain to him why he was going away. Fortunately, Linus has loved every single person who has ever crossed his path, and we knew he would do ok.

Here's our "little guy" right after we adopted him in March of 2008. He was only 6 months old and already bigger than our other cat!




We posted a Craigslist ad, and within a day had a hit from a woman with two kids who was very interested. She came over two days later to meet Linus and brought her little girl with her. Both of our cats were in love - they've never seen kids before! We felt that they would provide a good home for Linus and give him all of the attention and play time that he craved. So just a few days later, they came by to pick him up.

Just a little bit before Linus was to leave, I said my goodbyes to all 14 pounds of him (yes, 14 pounds. We like to think he's just big boned). Needless to say, I was slightly more sentimental than Linus. I like to think he was just trying to keep it together for my sake.

From what we have heard, Linus is doing well. His new family sent a couple of pictures after a few days, and Linus looked like a gigantic dinosaur next to the little girl - adorable! And now, we just assume no news is good news.

I won't lie - our household is much calmer these days with just two fur babies. And, our other cat Basil seems to be thriving. She's always been a loner, but since she and the dog don't get along, she was spending even more time on her own. Without Linus in the house, she cuddles with us much more and is much braver around Charlie. I also think she enjoys having the food and litterbox to herself!

I still miss my fluffy kitty and all of his stupid, clumsy antics, but I'm excited to know that there are two little kids who get to enjoy all of his affection and goofiness. Have you ever made the tough decision to give away a pet? Did you have any regrets?