Here at FPM, we already have a few great series that our readers know and love. So it’s only right that with the new decade, we start a new series. This time we’ll be highlighting the CatGenie team’s cute critters in a brand new series called: Office Pets.
First up is Anna Brown, Cat Genie’s current Marketing Intern.
Anna has an orange Maine Coon named Hades, who she now refers to as Goob, because Hades ended up being too serious a name for him.
He was originally named Nemo when she got him, which she presumes came from the movie “Finding Nemo”. But as a Latin student she knew the Latin word “Nemo” translates into “No One.” Thus, feeling “No One” was not a good name for a pet, she decided to rename him “Hades”.
That said, she mostly refers to him as Goob as Hades ended up being too serious a name for him.
When I asked Anna about her journey with Goob, she told me quite the story:
“Since I was a kid I’d wanted a big fluffy orange cat, and as soon as I moved out of my parents’ house and was living on my own, I knew I wanted to adopt one. I searched on petfinder where I found “Nemo” (Hades’ original name), an FIV+ cat who hadn’t been adopted for 6 years and kept being shuffled around to different foster homes. I was living in Lancaster and he was being cared for by Cat Naps of Pottstown, which was about an hour away from me. I had to borrow my parents’ car (in West Chester!) just to go get him! When I’d called and asked about adopting him, Cat Naps told me that he’d been found on the streets when he was about one year old as part of a trap-neuter-release program, and it was evident he was just not suited for living on his own.”
Goob had truly been through it before he was rescued, but he’s come a very long way since then.
“He was covered in mats, so they shaved him down to a lion’s cut (which they maintained – I got him in his cute lion’s cut), and like I mentioned, he has FIV, so they didn’t release him after surgery. Apparently he’d actually been adopted once by a family but they returned him within a month because he wasn’t a good fit for them. Which is bizarre, because as soon as I got him he was super cuddly and snuggle and the sweetest cat I or any of my friends have ever met.”
Part of the reason this series and my Special Cats series are so important to me and the CG team is that many of the critters we know and love have very similar backstories to Goob, which further stresses the importance of choosing to adopt animals instead of buying them from a mill.
So let’s get to the best (and not so great) parts of being a pet owner. For Anna specifically, being able to come home and snuggle up to a purring Goob, never having to fall asleep alone, and his happy meows when she walks into a room make being a pet owner all worthwhile.
Of course just generally being able to have a companion that has its own unique and cute personality, isn’t half bad either. But as we all know, being a pet owner is not always rainbows and butterflies. So what are some of the less glamorous parts of being a pet owner to Anna?
“Being woken up at 6 am (I don’t even wake up until 7, so I don’t know why he insists at 6) to feed him, even on weekends. This one is kind of worst/best, but he also likes to just randomly try to get snuggles in the middle of the night which is adorable but again he keeps waking me up. Goob and I currently are staying with roommates who also have two cats, and ever since moving into a multi-cat household, despite the fact that they all get along well and are kind of friends/play together often, Goob has since started marking his territory by spraying like, at least 3 times a day. So I have to clean up his spray all the time.”
When you pair this with expensive vet trips, it could be a little overwhelming. But when you sign up to get a pet, you sign up to be its sole caretaker, and they trust you with their lives, so it’s just part of the show. Part of the reason why we’re including this section is so readers know exactly what they’re getting themselves into before getting a pet. Hopefully this helps prevent the growing number of shelter surrenders happening currently.
On a lighter note, I’m sure you’re all wondering: did Anna’s love for animals lead her to working with CatGenie?
“Yes! When I was searching for an internship, one thing that was noted for CatGenie was that they encouraged a love of animals and specifically cats! I am a huge cat lover (and general animal lover) and while I was offered a few internships that were a lot closer to my home (it’s a 40 minute drive to CatGenie for me), one of the big perks I loved about the office was Carlos, the office cat! So my love of cats directly led to me working here.”
Same, Anna. When I was looking for my first big internship I was immediately drawn into working in the animal industry, and I was thrilled when they actually noted that loving animals was encouraged! Which leads me to my next question: Do your pets ever get a ‘lil jealous of Carlos’ scent?
“So far Goob hasn’t noticed anything. But Carlos always INTENSELY sniffs my bag and anything else I bring into the office that Goob lays on, so I think Carlos actually is the jealous one.”
I know personally after I got my first cat I immediately wanted another animal, which made me pretty curious as to whether or not the CG team shared that sentiment. It turns out, Anna certainly does!
“I want a dog so badly! I’m hoping to get a dog in the next few months, but I need to make sure it’s one small enough and sweet enough for Goob and the dog to get along. My parents had a small cock-a-poo who was about 16 years old and mostly just slept and ignored Goob, so Goob was totally fine with her. So I know he can be okay with dogs, I just need to be able to find one that works well with him.”
Welp, there you have it. I hope you enjoyed our first edition of Office Pets, and we hope to catch you back here soon for our next featured office pet.
Until then, I’ll leave you with this good nugget of advice from Anna:
“A lot of people don’t adopt FIV+ cats because they think they can infect other cats or they’re going to die earlier or something. I think that’s why Goob wasn’t adopted for so long despite being the sweetest boy. I always recommend people consider adopting over buying, and maybe go for a special needs kitty who might not be adopted as quickly. FIV+ cats are perfectly normal and live long and healthy lives and aren’t going to infect other cats.”
