Adoption-Palooza! Part One.

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson. April and family after arriving in my home.

March 26, 2012 was a special night. Not only was it the night I met Jackson Galaxy for dinner, but miles away outside in the dark cold night, a plain jane gray cat gave birth to six kittens. A week later, on my birthday, as a favor to my rescue friends, I said I'd foster the family. I wanted to get them out of the cold, but I could only do it for two weeks to give my friends time to find a more long-term foster home.

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson. My little squirts.

That was six months ago.

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson. Hello Dahlia.

This family featured four all black kittens I could not tell apart unless I looked at their paws. Two of the four were polydactyl (extra toed). Two had white on them, but other than that I wasn't really certain which cat was which. Their names are: Hello Dahlia, Belly Holiday, Black Beauty, Bon Bon, Cutie Patootie and Sabrina. You can read more about their early days HERE, HERE and HERE.

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson. Hello, Baby-D!

April, the mom and Bon Bon got adopted fairly soon.It was a few months later before Cutie Patootie and Sabrina finally found their family. Belly Holiday, Hello Dahlia and Black Beauty remained.

Though I saw the girls blossom into more and more amazing creatures every day, being all black was their downfall. Not many people want an all black cat.

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson. Dahlia likes to read, of course.

I continued to wait it out and hope that one day their families would find them. More kittens arrived and the pressure to find something for the girls escalated. I was very lucky that someone stepped forward when I needed them most. She offered to foster the girls, which would take a great deal off my shoulders. Her name is Tiffany and she and her family just moved here from California. I've been trying to find a local foster home for two years and Tiffany stepped up to the plate and took the girls on, her two adorable children agreed to play with the kittens and give them lots of love. I feared they would have the girls for months but, for now, they were safe. I'd keep networking and advertising to get them a home.

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson. Here's our girl on the way to growing up to be a stunning feline.

As often happens, the foster family discovered they were falling in love with the girls to the point of being reluctant to let them go. They understood they couldn't keep them all. While they considered what to do, I got sick with a bad cold. They jumped in and printed out flyers for our quickly-approaching Adoption Event and hung them up around town for me. They agreed to make sure the girls would be at the event even if that meant they might get adopted. They did so much to help I was truly in awe. This family was a dream come true.

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson.

Just before the event, I got an application for Hello Dahlia from a young couple who have a senior cat named Admiral Mittens and a young dog named Olive. They saw the flyer Tiffany's family hung up at the local diner. Everything checked out and they came to the event to meet Dahlia. The couple ignored Fred & Barney, our little kittens, who usually command most of the attention. They went over to Dahlia and smiled. They held her and she was really good with them.

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson. Mousy-master!

The couple told me Admiral was getting vetted and the vet found some things that he wanted to check out by doing more tests. I felt we shouldn't do the adoption until we all knew how Admiral's health issues were going to shake out. I couldn't imagine adopting a cat into a family who is facing a crisis with their existing cat. I also felt badly that it was Tiffany who ended up finding a home for Dahlia when she was still struggling with deciding if her family wanted to adopt her. Maybe we all needed a bit more time to figure things out?

A week passed and in that time Tiffany's family was began to re-think how they felt about Dahlia. They adored her and wanted her to stay, but knew that with the possibility of another family wanting to adopt her, they should not stand in the way. I didn't want to push them to choose and they were really great about letting Dahlia go. On Saturday they brought her back here to meet the couple and get adopted the next day. Tiffany and her children said goodbye to Dahlia. They were sad, but I reminded them what I remind myself; “Trust me, there will be more to love. In fact more kittens will be here in a few weeks.”

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson. Look at that FACE, those paws!

It was my last few hours with Dahlia, too.

I took some photos and we had play time. I held her and she purred up a storm. She'd grown from the tiny palm-sized baby into a lovely young adult. Her fur is like silk, glossy, shiny and thick. Her eyes sparkle. Her tail is up. Dahlia is confident in her world. She's smart, too. I bet we could train her to do some funny tricks if we had more time.

More time-it's always what I want with my fosters, but I have to practice letting go, too. At six months of age, Dahlia really needed to be with her forever family. I had to hope that she'd live a happy, healthy life in their care. I always worry a little bit if I've chosen a good placement for my fosters. This couple certainly seemed devoted to providing for their animals and their faces lit up when they looked at their new family member.

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson. Hello Dahlia and her new family, Angela & Greg.

I thought about Hello Dahlia's namesake, Dahlia, who passed away earlier this year. I never had the pleasure of meeting Dahlia in person, but I hope my friend and her mama-Janea sees that our foster kitty was a worthy of carrying on Dahlia's name.

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson. Goodbye, Dahlia. We love you!

But what of Dahlia's sisters? Are they still with their foster family or did they get adopted, too? I have SEVEN more adoptions to tell you about! Some are surprising and some are amazing! I've got a lot of work to do. Better get to it…