About Bennie and Bella

My wife Sarah and I are looking for a home for our two elderly cats, Bennie and Bella. We are moving in March and will no longer be in a home where we can house and care for them. Bennie and Bella are brother and sister from the same litter. We adopted them as kittens to keep our dog at the time Gulliver company while we were at work all day. Gulliver was a lab mix and he didn't really appreciate the competition for our attention in the beginning, but over the years the trio became fast friends. All three spent many hours running in our big backyard in Wisconsin, chasing squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits and whatever other varmints had the misfortune to moseying through our yard. And they always enjoyed when Sarah and I joined them out there. The three of them were always right there beside us in the garden, greenhouse or on the deck. When Gulliver passed away in 2013 we were left dogless for a year. We adopted Pip, a Brittany mix, about a year later and backyard romps were a thing once more, with the dog tearing every which way and Bennie an Bella playfully swiping at his long, flappy ears as he bounced past them. Pip came around about the time that Bennie and Bella were reaching midlife so they kind got to grow old together. We all moved to Virginia in 2022, which was a big move for three aging pets who were used to the cooler northern climate, but they adjusted. We lost Pip a little over a year ago to cancer so now it's just us and the cats again. The Kiddos have definitely slowed down in the past few years. Bella is our gorgeous girl with her thick coat of black fur. She's very shy but once she warms up to you she has the cutest meow. And if you lay on the floor she may even come up and cuddle with you. She's had kidney disease for about two years now and her arthritis makes it so she can't move around all that well. She sleeps for most of the day, but we do have a toy mouse on a string that she enjoys playing with. She is on medication for her kidney issues and the arthritis, and she eats special wet food for kitties with kidney issues. Bennie is our crazy boy and far more social than his sister. He is a very vocal fella and loves talking to anyone who will listen, and he tends to howl sometimes we suspect just to hear his own voice. And as we sit down and relax at night he will do everything he can to jump up in our laps and cuddle with us. He's a very loving and social guy. But he like his sister comes with his own age-related diseases. Bennie like Bella has arthritis, and he's been a diabetic kitty since 2020. We had him on insulin for a while but then we found a medication called Bexacat that was much easier to administer, and he really does well with it. Even though he has arthritis he still gets around well for an old fella. Much better than his sister. Sometimes when you throw him a treat you'd think he was a kitten watching how quickly pounces on it. But he is an old cat so there is no jumping up onto things, except a chair or sofa to cuddle with you, and there is no jumping down from heights. Their bodies are too frail to withstand the impact. And when we are holding them we never let them jump down. We always put them down easily. Given all their ailment and with all the medications they are having to take and extra care they require there is no way for us to take them with us where we are going. While they do use the litter box their arthritis gets the best of them and they do miss the mark and spray outside of it and they do poop just outside the box about half the time. So there is extra care and time that goes into administering meds and cleaning up after them. I did just purchase a senior litter box which is bigger in length and width and shorter in height so they can get into it easier and have more room to do their business. The other thing you need to know concerning care for these two is the cost for medications and the special medicated food. We easily spend $500 a month on food, mediation, litter, etc. That does not include vet visits. We know they are near the end of their lives but they seem to still be enjoying life given the combination of meds and good care we are able to give them. Unfortunately we will no longer be able to give that care past March so I am reaching out to see if we can find the right match for our kiddos so they can have a safe and happy last chapter of their lives. We are looking for someone with no kids or other pets and a quiet environment for two old cats that enjoy sleeping a lot, a little play every now and then, and the occasional trip out of bed for a meal, snack or to do their business. If you think these two crazy cats might be the right fit for your home, email me Joe at [email protected] and we can schedule a time to talk.

Contact

Fairfax (City)
Fairfax, Virginia

Joe Starr: 608-358-8950

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