Please allow me to rant

My aunt lives in Iowa, near my mother, so I see both of them regularly. One cousin lives near me in Minnesota, another in town near my aunt. My cousins talked my aunt into getting a cat two years ago, and she (my aunt) is just not happy with him (Sam, the kitty).

Let me hasten to say that Sam is just being a cat. Sometimes nosy, sometimes demanding, sometimes stand-offish. I have 4 cats of my own and have owned a LOT of cats in my day. Sam is just a cat.

Now my aunt is moving into assisted living and while she can have a pet (the AL folks are pretty hip that way), she doesn't want to move Sam. So she's asked me to help find him a home.

Why me? you ask. Why not her own kids?

Here's why: because I care. Because I will make the phone calls, post the pictures, shake the trees to find this sweet cat a home. The shelters here are overcrowded because of floods that displaced a lot of people, so there's just no place for him. To be honest, I don't know what his fate will be. My cousins may press her to have him put down.

A lovable, neutered, ready-to-play cat.

I've had to endure the euthanasia of a pet because of old age or illness. I can't fathom doing that because an animal is inconvenient.

So I'll keep making phone calls and post pictures and hope for the best. It's really all I can do because those who can -- do. Those who can and don't -- are assholes.

End rant. Thank you for letting me vent.