Introducing: Nala!

It's official, I've met the love of my life: sweet, always happy to see me, affectionate, well-behaved and just generally adorable, she's everything I've been hoping for. Meet Nala, the newest addition to the Pinneo family:


I adopted her from the Washington Humane Society's Georgia Avenue shelter on Friday, and, coming from a family of dog-lovers, have spent the last five days adjusting to living with a cat and panicking six times a day that I'm doing something wrong. Thank goodness for Gina and my mom! Soon-to-be-Dr. Gina has been fielding my frantic emails while laughing at me for being "such a new mom" and my own mom, who was in town over the weekend for a belated birthday visit, was a huge help getting Nala settled in.

The general consensus is that Nala is adorable. She runs to the door whenever she hears the key in the lock and meows in greeting as I open it. (And after one heart-stopping experience when she darted out into the hallway - but came right back in when I crouched down and called her! - she seems content to stay inside my apartment.) She stretches out her front leg and paw when she wants to be petted, putting me in mind of a little kid reaching for an adult and saying "Up!" And whenever I'm not in the immediate vicinity, she comes looking for me every few minutes, tilting her head and meowing at me before going back to whatever she was doing, as if to say, "Okay, just checking!"

Like every shelter animal, Nala has a story: she's six years old, and spent five years with a family who adopted her from another shelter. Her "dad" recently developed an allergy to cats and at the end of November, they decided they couldn't keep her anymore. So she spent three months in the shelter, until I went in to look at another cat I was thinking of adopting and fell in love with her instead.

I grew up with purebred Chocolate Labs - big, goofy dogs with lots of energy and hearts of gold - bought from the breeder when they were puppies, so adopting a pet from a shelter was a different experience for me. The second I walked in, I wanted to scoop up half the animals there and take them home with me because they looked so sad - and the next time I'm looking for a pet, I'll definitely adopt one in need of a good home, like Nala.

If you're looking for a new member of the family, I highly recommend using petfinder.com to see animals available for adoption in your area (and thanks to Gina for sending me there!). Everyone from the Humane Society to the smaller, local rescue groups seem to use it, and the postings often give you the direct contact information of the person fostering each animal.

Any reputable adoption program will spay or neuter all animals before you can take them home, ensure that they're up-to-date on shots and vaccinations and some even offer to microchip them for a lower fee than you'd pay in a vet's office.

I'm thrilled to finally be living with a pet again, and I couldn't have found a better companion than Nala. If you're looking for a pet, please adopt one - there are hundreds of thousands of homeless pets languishing in shelters throughout the country, and they need the loving home you can offer. (And, if you're in the D.C. area and thinking about getting a dog, check out Brody at WHS - scroll to the bottom of the page - I can tell you he's every bit as big-hearted and eager-to-please as he is cute!)