Requiem

Luke, I am (not) your father (anymore) :(

Today, Luke calls someone else his father. This has been a sad time for Lesley and I. We took our cat Luke Skywalker back to the Feline Rescue Shelter from which he was adopted. I wish we hadn't had to, but it was for the best.

Grace was terrified of him. She was very reclusive and hid whenever he was around, even if he wasn't chasing her (which happened frequently). She was gaining weight and overall had a very uncharacteristic sad disposition. We had to keep the cats separate at night, otherwise he would chase her loudly (to prevent for our sleeping sake) and would not take the cue of her growling to stop. Since I was starting work and Lesley was starting school, we would have had to keep them separate a lot more than we wanted to during the day as well.

Luke was stressed out from us yelling at him when he did chase Grace. He had developed bad acne on his chin, and despite our best efforts to prevent the spread of and cure it, it lingered. Since he has been back at the shelter, it has gone completely away and the fur which he scratched off from itching it grew back.

He is such a sweet boy and has adapted to being back at the shelter quickly, (of course) being friendly with all the cats. He came to us every time we went to visit him and loved to be held or on our laps for a long time.

Today, Luke got taken to another home. Another volunteer at the shelter had loved him when we adopted him. Finding themselves in good fortune, with us bringing him back, they did not hesitate to adopt him. I am happy that he does not have to be at the shelter anymore, as it killed both Lesley and I to see him kenneled there (while he was getting readjusted), but I know we will both miss seeing him. I wrote the couple who adopted him a letter in the hopes that we may keep in contact and get updates regarding him. Though I may not be his father anymore, he will always be my cat-son.