Patriot story: Charles and Quill

Pets for Patriots has added a new member to our family and genuinely brought a fair amount of joy to our everyday lives.

First I need to admit that I was never a fan of cats.  They're arrogant, self-centered, and egotistical, they don’t move out of the way, they only come around when they want you to pet them, and they pretty much exist to cause havoc in your home.  Then it occurred to me that there is an incredible similarity between cats and Marines.  We’re arrogant, self-centered, and egotistical, we will never move out of anyone’s way for any reason, we only come around when we feel we need attention, and we exist to cause havoc – everywhere.  That alone wasn't the reason I wanted to adopt Quill.  When we first started looking, I didn't know about Pets for Patriots.  My wife had expressed an interest in getting another pet, preferably a cat.  We currently have two dogs, a German Shepherd/Wolf mix named Kota (female), and a pug named Odin (male). 

Odin has a little man complex.  Kota is a trained professional, all business, no fooling around.  We looked at several cats, all were very sociable, extremely friendly to my daughter and wife, and myself.  Quill was friendly to my wife and daughter, but his first “go” with me was kinetic.  He likes to play.  That is what I was looking for in a cat.  One that wants to engage as much as be engaged.  Quill makes our family whole.  He and our dogs get along perfectly.  At times he will sit at the top of the basement stairs and wait for Odin to come up, as soon as Odin rounds the corner Quill is on top of him, takes him to the ground and then it’s on!  Running around the dining room table, shooting through the living room over the couch and then back toward the kitchen.  Kota and Quill are the same way.  Kota waits, like a sentry, for her next command.  She’s been trained as a personal protection dog for our daughter.  Her “play” time is a sort of hide and seek with our daughter.  Our daughter will hide around the house or in the yard, and on the command “seek” Kota will find her.  Quill follows, I think he likes the excitement my daughter exhibits at being found by Kota.  Like I said – we all get along extremely well.

Our adopting experience was very easy and pleasant.  A friend of mine at work knew I was looking for a cat.  She had actually showed me several cats around the area that were for sale.  While she was showing me the cats she asked if I had considered adopting.  I hadn’t thought of it – then she said she knew someone who had used Pets for Patriots.  From there I went to the website and checked them out.  The rest was easy.  We went in, I informed the staff at the Macon County Animal Shelter that I was a Veteran and that I would l like to use the Pets for Patriots to assist in the adoption.  They knew exactly what to do and how to speed the adoption along.  I had already gone online to fill out the quick paperwork with Pets for Patriots, I handed that to the Macon County Staff and then we went about finding a match.  Long boring story short, we found Quill.  He is a great cat, arrogant, egotistical, and just the right amount of “aggressive” to fit extremely well in our family.  Thank you Pets for Patriots!

Respectfully,

Charles (Sgt. USMC 2001-2010)

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From 1/5/15 update:

Quill is doing great. When I brought him home my wife had already explained to our 5 year old daughter that he would need time to himself to adjust to his new surroundings. As I came in the door our daughter was extremely excited. He did great! I think his age had a lot to do with it. His tag said he was a stray at the shelter, but his temperament and mannerisms make me believe he had to at one time been a well groomed, well raised cat. After about 4 hours of wandering around the house he came back to us in the living room and jumped up on my wife's lap, began purring and sat down. He does great with our daughter! I want to thank you all for creating Pets For Patriots, it means very much to me and my family. When I get back to work this coming Monday I'll be recommending you all to my fellow Veteran's! Again, thank you.