Mose (formerly Xemnas)
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
By: Emily Douglas

Adopted in March 2011

Now that's a dog's kind of cat!

This past February we lost our cat of 8 years to sudden congenital heart failure, and decided after a couple months that our home really needed a feline presence to balance out our four rescue dogs. Enter Mose (formerly known as Xemnas).

When we met Mose at HSHV, he was outgoing, friendly and eager to jump out of his cage every chance he got. Our goal was to adopt a cat that might be less adoptable than normal and Mose fit the bill: in addition to being a scrawny black cat, he was one of only two heartworm positive cats available for adoption. More vet bills, an uncertain lifespan, and a great personality . . . yep, we'll take him!

Since coming home with us, Mose has not only made himself comfortable wherever and whenever he pleases--our laps, our laptops, our dogs' beds, our bed, our kitchen table--but he has also proven himself to be a willing participant in our little pit bull, Peaches' lifelong pursuit of feline love and affection.

Peaches lives for cat affection and will slink along on her belly behind or up to Mose any chance she gets and then slowly roll onto her back in the hopes of getting whatever attention he's willing to offer. Luckily, Mose is far more interested in Peaches' affection than our last cat ever was and the two are now happy, cuddling bed buddies.

During the day, Mose can be found galloping around our backyard with the dogs while they play ball, and at night he can be seen curling up with one of his canine buddies in their dog beds . . . or out in the kitchen romping around in an effort to keep us all awake at night. He is a happy camper with a loud purr and we couldn't possibly have found a more perfect fit for our home. It takes a very special kind of cat to not only sucessfully fill the void that our previous cat left, but to then also seamlessly fit in to a four-dog household.

Heartworm is a very scary thing for cats and dogs, and after an echocardiogram and consult with a veterinary cardiologist, we know that Mose could live to be an old man or he could be gone next week. But however long he has, we are going to make sure he has anything and everything he needs to be a happy, healthy cat in our doghouse.