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Tana – My super awesome cat

Updated: Jan 23, 2023

As some of you know, I have a rescue cat named Tana – well, his real name is Santana but I call him Tana because we’re all about nicknames. Tana is definitely my pride and joy and he brings so much happiness to my life that I find it hard to believe that I went so long without having a pet.


As any human will tell you, if you have a cat, you do NOT own them – rather, they own you. And, that’s definitely the case here. Tana owns the house and you might say that he has me wrapped around his paw. But, that’s partly my fault I suppose. And I’m okay with it. The thing is, I don’t know what kind of life he had before I got him, so I want to make sure that he has the best life possible while he’s here with me.


Here’s a little bit of the back story.

I’m really not sure why, but a couple of years ago I just kinda decided that I wanted to have a cat. I had been thinking about it for about 6 months and was waiting for the right time to get one. And, although I don’t fault anyone for going to a pet store, I knew I wanted to get a rescue cat. Why would I want to get a rescue? I mean, that’s like getting a used car – you’re getting someone else’s “hand me downs” and that can be risky. You don’t know what you’re going to get. You might end up with a cat that has a great disposition or one that is the terror of the block. But, then again, that could happen with any cat you might get – from anywhere. So, I researched pet adoptions and found Second Chance Pet Adoption. Finally in July of 2015, I drove over to Second Chance Pet Adoption in Raleigh, NC.


Since I think carefully about all decisions I make (okay, maybe not ALL decisions, but definitely most decisions), I visited with all of the cats that I thought I might like to adopt. I was looking for a female cat – I had no interest in a male cat. I know, picky picky, right? I wasn’t all that concerned about their age but I did know that I needed one that was declawed because the last thing I wanted was to have my furniture all scratched up. And, again, I was focusing on the female cats. Well, the ones that I had an interest in were not declawed. Bummer. So, I asked the wonderful folks there which cats WERE declawed. “Well, there’s this older cat named Santana. He’s declawed and he is just the sweetest cat – we all love him.” He was already 7 years old (they set his birthday at April 23, 2008) and remember, I wasn’t looking for a male cat. We’ve always had female cats as I was growing up, so I was initially interested in getting a female cat. But, I said let’s check him out.


I watched him in the room for a while and then I picked him up. He wasn’t warming up to me too much, but I wasn’t all that offended by it. He was in a room with a bunch of younger females and I’m sure that he was a bit tired because I had noticed that they were quite attentive to him. But I did see potential. And, he did look super sweet. So, after some thought, and after filling out a very long application, I requested that I be approved to bring him into my home.


I got all of the stuff needed to make sure that his transition into living at my house would be a smooth one. I got a cat carrier (that was required, just like an approved car seat is for a new baby), a litter box with litter that is low dust of course, food (although they did give me food as well), and other things that I thought he might like. I wanted to be a great pet owner. And, over to Second Chance I went to pick up my little boy. BTW, they did tell me of a health issue that he might have and gave me some medication that he would need for it.


So, after filling out all of the forms and finalizing everything, we got in the car for the ride home. Here we go Mr. Santana. We’re going to your new home. He was a little uneasy at first when we got home – had to get settled in to this new place because when you think about it, he was pretty much the king of that room where he was with all those women, right?  LOL. Now he’s just got this one female human who thinks she owns the place. Boy did I have a lot to learn!


Our Life Today

So, fast forward to today. Now it’s been about 2 years and I am so happy that Tana is here with me. Since I work from home, he comes in and visits me in my office on occasion – when he’s not sleeping on his window seat, or wherever he feels like hanging out because he’s Tana and owns the house, remember? He is my faithful companion. He can tell when I’m stressed or upset and comes over to comfort me in a way that any pet owner is all too familiar with. He has a way of putting a smile in my heart just by the way he looks at me. He cracks me up with some of his antics. And yes, he definitely lets me know that he is the true owner of the house and I’m just the human who is allowed to live here. But, it’s all good. We go for walks, yes he has a pet stroller that he rides in because he’s the king of the road. And, he has a super cool pet carrier now that is a kind of camouflage design. We hang out on the deck in the evenings, or sometimes during the day if it’s nice out and I feel like working outside.


And, it’s true that I have found that he has more medical issues than originally anticipated – in fact, he was actually denied pet health insurance due to pre-existing conditions, so his healthcare can get a bit pricey. But, it’s okay because I won’t let that keep him from getting what he needs. When ya think about it, if he had been adopted by someone else, maybe they couldn’t afford to cover his medical bills and he would have been back out on the streets again. And, even though I’m definitely “not made of money,” I do have enough that I can take care of him and make sure that he gets the medical assistance that he needs. So, in a way, while I am so thankful to have him here with me, he is also lucky to be here with me as well – and quite honestly, I think he realizes that.


All in all, I know that we are both very blessed to be together. He’s gotten me through some challenging times, and I have gotten him through some challenging times as well. What’s funny is that I’m sitting here on the deck writing this and he’s looking at me like “are you almost done yet and can we go inside because I’m sure I have some treats to enjoy inside.” So I guess this post is coming to an end.


Think About Adoption

So in closing, if you’ve never thought about getting a getting a rescue pet, you should definitely consider it. Maybe I’ve just been blessed with an awesome cat, but I’m sure there are plenty others out there who are eager to have their Forever Home, just like my Tana has gotten.

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