Unintentional Savvy Shopping

Like most tourists in Italy, we visited the Colosseum in Rome.  While passing through one of the corridors, we saw an enormous black cat walking nearby.  Dante and I knelt to pet it and he immediately walked over to us.The cat was so friendly that we sat down to pet it longer.  He promptly climbed onto Dante's lap and made itself at home.  There we sat, on the floor of the Colosseum, for another 10 minutes with this giant cat comfortably curled on Dante’s lap.That was a tipping point.For the last three years Dante has been asking for a cat. Now, thanks to Nero (we later learned his name), Dante has his heart set on a black cat.  A ginormous, friendly, black cat.When I told him that black cats have a hard time getting adopted because of their color, he became even more determined to adopt one.That afternoon, over a fantastic pasta lunch and a bottle of wine, Paul and I talked it over and agreed that the best time to get a new cat would be at the start of Dante’s winter break.  That would give him and the little critter plenty of time to bond.However, one of the concerns I have about bringing a new pet into the house, especially a cat, is our 70 pound dog Spur.  She’s a sweet dog, but she’s never been around cats before.  I wanted to find out if the shelters have advice or concerns about the cat/dog dynamic.OK, I fully admit that I used this concern as an excuse to take Dante to Pets In Need last night so I could ask the staff about it.They were very helpful and suggested we get a kitten rather than a full grown cat.The surprising thing they let us know is that on Friday’s, for the month of December, all of their black haired animals are adoptable for just $50, about half the price of the normal adoption fee.  It’s part of their effort to find the “hard to adopt” animals homes.Never, in all my years of working to shop savvy did I think I’d get a pet on sale – based only on the color of its’ hair!I applaud the shelter for getting creative, but am so sad that they have to.