Adoption Bribes

If you follow my Twitter - @chrispco - you know me fostering kittens always ends in my body giving out, because if I’m gonna take the hit, I’m not doing a task half-assed!

This time I wasn’t tapped to foster, except a brief stay to prep them, but show off the fosters at an adoption event. And I was REALLY nervous. Not just cuz I fear diseased townspeople, or how my body would give out when I talk for hours - but because I knew these kittens start out extra shy, and take time to warm up. They are ADORABLE, and super playful, but when it counts they tends to nap in their cage and get overlooked.

The bold sister, Fionna, had been adopted right away, but growing-bold-at-home Cake and still-kinda-skittish Zippy (guess how she got HER name!) were getting passed over due to shyness.

I did my best to set them up for success. With my mother (who was fostering then) out of town, they came to stay with me for two days before the adoption event. I was terrified when they hid most of the day, but I was able to get Cake’s approval eventually, and soon both were playing hard.

The next day I had a friend visit, and brought him into the kitten room as a STRANGER! Again they hid initially, but again they came out after a while. The surprise was that it was ZIPPY who did better. Cake is the bolder one, but apparently slower to trust strangers.

And that’s how the adoption day played out. I met a couple that wanted a kitten who got along with other cats, but wouldn’t actively initiate play with their older cat. Zippy was very good at being held - amazing progress in two days, btw - and the shyest sister found a home that was perfect for her!

And Cake moped, only to immediately blossom when back at her foster home, with her friends. How DARE you, kitten! You will NOT be a foster fail! Your whole litter was so obviously adoptable, you sticking around could not stand!

My family, being giant softies, already prepared goodie bags for kitten adoption, with some of their perferred food, their favorite toys, and covering their adoption fee. But I was scared Cake would tank this show again - especially without any friend to sit with.

You know I had new colored pencils, which were all set up for me to continue the Precocious sketches. But the friend visit, adoption event, PT trouble, another doc appointment, and a surprise neighbor chat has fully overwhelmed my fragile body. I didn’t just want Cake adopted for pride’s sake - she’s a gem who happens to do poorly at adoption events - but I was still suffering come the next weekend’s event. Cake not only needed to be adopted; she needed to be adopted QUICKLY, so I could go home and rest!

And that is how I ended up creating a Cake portrait - and she also officially got renamed Snack Cake, cuz it’s both cute and fits how she’s very tiny! She might not be active at the adoption event, but a portrait would get people to stop and allow me to explain WHY she’s moping, while also sharing videos of Snack Cake going wild when she’s comfortable.

It worked! Snack Cake was even more grumpy and withdrawn than expected, and I was really worried. But it only takes one person, and he cuteness plus my clear enthusiasm for her - I drew a picture! - got Snack Cake adopted despite herself. The other fosterers maaaay have been a tad resentful of me openly declaring I was going full bribery. And Snack Cake was indeed the first to be adopted, even though there was a sweet, social and handsome medium-haired tuxedo cat named Oreo, who looked like he’d suck everyone in!

But Oreo took a nap at the perfect time for me. And I got to go home two hours early. The sisters were all adopted, and my mother’s fostering was a success. Enjoy your forever homes, girls!

(My face still exploded on me, as I wasn’t recovered enough from the cumulate triggers of the prior week, but it’s a third of what it could’ve been, and my task was accomplished! And the faceplosion also gives me an excuse to not go back and fix typos. Sorry! Chrispy has left the Patreon post!)