Thank God for Craigslist.

So we decided we really had to part ways with Gaspar. As much as it really broke my heart I knew it was for the best.

Let me tell you this first, I have a very special place in my heart for animals. My husband thinks it's funny that I can watch a human be hurt or killed on TV or in a movie and I'm ok but if someone kicks a dog or grabs a cat the wrong way I'm done! I just feel like 1. animals have feelings they just can't express them like we can and 2. they are mostly helpless to truly defend themselves. So when I feel an animal feels neglected or not wanted it just kills me! And the thought that Gaspar would feel that way had me bawling Thursday as I was trying to find him somewhere to go.

They have no-kill shelter's around here but of course all of them were full to capacity. The only place that could take him was a shelter that did. I was so upset. In a last ditch effort Thursday afternoon I thought I'd put him up on craigslist again (that's where I got him from). Put up lots of pictures and listed all his pro's and con's (I didn't want to hide anything. I wanted someone to take him knowing his good and bad sides!). I figured I wouldn't hear anything before the next day when we planned to take him to the shelter. But at 11pm, while we were laying on the bed watching The Walking Dead, I get a text asking me if I still had the cat and that they'd love to give him a home. They didn't have other pets or any young children which I thought would be a better situation for him.

After talking for a few minutes I found out it was young collage guy who lives in a big house with a couple of other guys. They all wanted a cat but not a kitten. He was really excited about getting Gaspar! And he said he could take him the next day....

Luckily, he lives right down the road from us and we agreed to meet up at the Wal-Mart. Gaspar FLIPPED out on the ride. Screaming (for lack of a better term) and drooling buckets everywhere. It was THE longest 8 minute ride of my life. I warned the guy ahead of time that Gaspar would probably be really upset and probably wouldn't be very nice for the first few days. He said it was no problem, he understood. I text him a few hours after just to see how it was going and he said everything was fine, Gaspar seemed like "a nice guy" and was exploring the house. I really hope it works out and I felt SO relieved to send him to a home. He promised he would be well taken care of and even "spoiled a bit!"

The funny thing was I had another call about Gaspar Friday morning from a lady wanting him! But yeah, I'm SO glad I had a random thought to put him back up on Craigslist or he'd be sitting in a shelter and I'd be torn up so bad. I was a little sad after we dropped him off. My husband didn't understand why, he was relieved to have him gone, but I cried when I had to get rid of my crazy cat and she drove even me nuts. I just hate thinking that pet feels unwanted by me. The same way I'd feel if I knew a young child was unwanted by their parent. Same feeling.

So anyway. We haven't sworn off a second pet. We just know we are going to have to get a kitten we can train and one we can hand pick, making sure we get a laid back, docile, lap cat. Gianna wants a pet she can carrying around, at least for a bit, and play with. And I want her to have special memories with a pet that she helps pick out so to speak. I remember my dad taking me when I was about Gi's age to pick out a kitten of my very own - a little orange and white female I named Wendy after the character in Peter Pan because it was my favorite movie at the time. I loved her and she had a billion kittens over her lifetime with us but that was such a special memory for me. I get my love of pets from my daddy!

I still miss Gaspar a little. I expect him to come running every time I open doors or closets, or to be laying on Gi's bed staring at me when I walk in.....but I'm happy he had a home to go to! Thank God for Craigslist!