Sasha and Yuri

We are cat people. Our 16 year old cats both passed away within the last year. I was so close to Chewy, my white cat, that when it was his time I couldn't let them put him down without my being there. My mother had passed away a month earlier and
I couldn't cry at her funeral. Her decline and eventual passing had been so traumatic I was numb at the funeral home. But when I took Chewy to the vet for his final visit, I lost it. I thought they were going to call 911. All the pent-up emotions of the last months poured out of me.

We wanted to take our time before immediately replacing Toonses and Chewy. A few months went by and the house seemed so lonely without them, especially when we would return from work to an empty house. Our cats were always standing at the door to greet us. I had read up on cat breeds and decided perhaps our next cats would be a Russian Blue mix, because their temperament was supposed to be good for small children. I wanted two male cats, preferably brothers, which had been neutered and declawed. I found a website called Petfinders.com and entered in the specifics we were looking for. Lo and behold, there was a shelter in Toronto, Canada that had exactly what we were looking for. We took a day off from work and drove to Toronto to visit with them. They were both very friendly and affectionate and we decided to adopt them. They were 1-1/2 year old Russian Blue mix brothers, declawed and neutered, named Elvis and Buddy.

Buddy meowed for at least two hours on the way home. I just kept feeding little bits of cat food. But once we got home they settled in at once and by the end of the evening were lying on top of us and we all watched TV together. After a day or two I asked Georg if he was happy we got the new cats. He said "Yes, kind of". I asked what he meant and he said that in a way he felt disloyal to Toonses and Chewy by giving his heart away again so soon. As soon as he said it, he was able to let go. Elvis and Buddy are now Sasha and Yuri. They adjusted to their new names immediately. We love having cats in the house again and hope to have them with us at least another 16 years.

*A footnote:  As I was filing their paperwork, I looked at it more closely and realized that they had been born on EXACTLY the same day as our grandson - 10-14-04!