"What About Your Cats?"

By Steve W

Bob and Jake in our house.

As many of you know, we are cat lovers, having owned cats (at least two or more at a time) since we got married.

Given our plans to travel extensively after retirement, we had some choices to make regarding our cats, Bob and Jake. For more on their story, click here.

It was clear that we had to find them a new home, somewhere they could be together. Having dealt with cat adoption agencies as foster parents, we knew that going out on weekends to pet stores, hoping that someone would adopt them both, was risky.

A few months ago, we had dinner with our friend Alex Shapiro and explained our situation. Also being a cat lover, she (and her partner, Dan) immediately volunteered to take both of our boys to live with them on San Juan Island, off the coast of Washington.

Getting them to the island, however, was a challenge. To do so, we got a large cage that fit in the back of our SUV and loaded the cats into the car for a three-day trip, staying in pet-friendly motels for two nights before taking a ferry to Friday Harbor. The cats handled the trip very well and we took them inside Alex and Dan's house.

Bob, being the social animal that he is, made himself at home immediately. Jake, being a bit more standoffish, stayed under the bed for several days, but soon made himself comfortable as well. Here they are in their new surroundings:

Fat cats in the sunshine.

I think they have adjusted😸. We miss them but they have a great new home with new people who love them as much as we did. We plan to stop and see them as we travel north and hope that they remember us!