Bye, Bye Madison

This was a bad week. I was forced to give Miss Madison up for adoption yesterday, a decision I'd struggled with for weeks, and I miss her terribly. My sweet, sweet little girl. Last night was my third night without sleep this week.

Last week, on Tuesday I think, I’d decided to try a new tactic to help Martin get over his fear of other kitties. When I went to work, I let them both out in the house to fend for themselves. I thought maybe the lady at Animal Control was right – they needed to finish a fight. Boy was I wrong.

Everything seemed fine when I got home that evening, Martin staying in his bed behind my easy chair in the basement. Madison hung out with us in the same room and did a lot of sitting and looking at Martin, but nothing else.

That night when we went to bed, I left the bedroom door open a quarter of an inch and locked Madison up in her room down the hall. At midnight, Martin hissed at the door as if Madison was out there. He went under the bed and basically stayed there for 24 hours. Same thing happened at 2:00am the next night, even though the door was fully closed. It's as though Martin was hallucinating.

Under the bed became Martin’s new haven. I was heartbroken. And the rare times that he came out from under the bed, he stepped lightly, crouched, and slinked. He wouldn’t wander the house freely and hardly ate. I was devastated. I couldn't sleep at night, especially without Martin on my pillow.

I debated whether to take Madison back to the pound that Saturday, but I just didn't have the heart and decided to give it one last try. I went back to square zero and kept them separated 24 x 7. But Martin didn’t get over it. He stayed under the bed most of the time. My vet told me that if he wasn't over it by now, he'd probably never get over it. I decided I’d have to take Madison to the pound this weekend. I was emotionally spent. Even though the thought of giving her up made me cry, it was the best thing for Martin.

My friend Jasmine suggested I post an ad on the electronic bulletin board at work – which I didn’t know about. I did that, and within minutes I had several potential takers. The woman who ended up taking Madison had lost her kitty to cancer two months ago and I could tell she was a true cat lover who would love Madison as much as I do and take good care of her. Madison and I had truly bonded over the past eight weeks. As painful as it was, I gave my baby up last night after work.

Man this is hard. See, this is why I gave up dating years ago. The breakups are just too painful!

Oh, I did learn from several people who saw my posting that Madison is a quality breed cat – she is a Maine Coon. In fact, the photo of “Triple Gr. Ch. Cajun Coons Brun Matou of Blazers” at http://www.blazerscats.com/maine_coons.html could be a photo of Madison. Maine Coons are beautiful cats with wonderful dispositions. It’s a shame I couldn’t keep her.

As of this morning, Martin is already starting to come around. He still isn’t convinced she’s gone, and is afraid of that door to the guest room, even though he witnessed her exit out the front door in her pink bag. But I don’t think it’ll take long. He’s already “out and about” in the house today, more so than any time over the past few weeks. This morning while I was tossing and turning, he finally got in bed with me for the first time in days, snuggled up and purred. That’s the Martin I’d been missing.