About half an hour ago I heard from the vet regarding the new cat, Rita. Did I mention at all that we’re adopting a new cat and we’re calling her Rita? I know the cats and dog mentioned it.

The vet says based on her teeth and internal exam (during her spay, so really internal), she’s probably closer to four years old. We thought she might only be about a year (because what do we know about teeth, other than she has all of them and they didn’t look bad).

She’s a sweet cat, but not much of a cuddly cat. Of course, one of the reasons she was probably against being picked up is because she had an infection in her uterus. Getting her fixed saved her life (it was a closed infection — the infection was contained there — but if it had been allowed to continue, it would have killed her).

She’s staying overnight at the vet’s because of the infection. She’s getting a 14-day antibiotic injection (that way we don’t have to stress her out further trying to medicate her twice a day, every day for two weeks, which should make adjusting to her new home easier) and they’re going to monitor her overnight to make sure that her temperature doesn’t spike and that she seems to be recovering from the surgery well. They don’t have any worries, though. She’s apparently in good health. No FeLV, no FIV, no parasites, and no fleas. Teeth are healthy and strong. We already know her appetite is good, her ears are clean, and her eyes are bright (and green).

She’s also very clean — no matted fur, no bald spots, no scars or signs of hard living. She’s soft and shiny. But considering she’s been living in mom’s yard exclusively for the past two months, I’m not worried that we’re abducting someone’s family pet. Seriously, by now SOMEONE would’ve put up signs looking for her — I’ve even looked at the vet’s office and the pet daycare/groomer/boarding place, and checked the neighborhood paper. Mom was also keeping an eye out for anyone that seemed to be looking for a lost cat. And since I work down the street from mom’s house, I know the cat was there all the time, so she wasn’t just being put out at night and making a beeline for my mom, then running home in the morning.

If by some weird circumstance someone turns up and says “I was in Europe all summer and had no idea the housesitter let her get away!” I’d give Rita back. For a price. Namely, the price of the vet visit.

I have never had a cat that did not require expensive surgery at some point. Maybe Rita’s gotten hers out of the way right off the bat.