Mr. Leo Fluffball - Adopting an Aussie Fur-baby!

Meet Mr. Leo, 'the lion' Fluffball. This 6-year-old street rescue kitty is now a member of the Batchelor Family in Melbourne. I'll take you through the process we had to follow to adopt and have a pet in Australia. It's not so different from the States, but there were a few things that we had to do.

After leaving two cats behind in The States (one with each son), we were missing the companionship of a cuddle buddy. Furthermore, we felt we were finally settled enough in Melbourne and planning to stay here for several more years.

While there are no extra lease fees to have a pet if you rent or lease, you still need to obtain permission and register your pet. Our original lease agreement did not allow pets, so we requested permission to have a cat. Since we are in a furnished unit, we had to convince the owner that we would be responsible with her furnishings. Once it was approved, a pet addendum for our lease was sent to us to sign.

Permission to have a cat. Check. The next step, find a cat.

We knew we wanted to adopt an adult rescue cat. After researching local rescue groups, we completed an application with Cat People of Melbourne (CPM). We quickly discovered that pet adoptions were up 300% due to the extensive lockdowns, and it would likely take a while before we could adopt. We just wanted to give an adult cat a forever home, and we're confident that CPM would do an excellent job placing pets in loving and safe homes.

We completed and submitted the lengthy application, which included pictures of every room of our place and contact info for a character reference.

To our surprise, CPM contacted us within just a few hours of accepting our application, and we were introduced to Mr. Leo. He was a street rescue from last year and living with his foster mom north of the city. As the story goes, he was brought in with a gash on his chin, but they fixed him up. They also microchipped, vaccinated, and desexed him before sending him to a foster home. His foster mom knew he would appreciate being in a single-cat home since he loves to have all the attention. He was perfect for us.

Found a cat. Check. The next step, bringing him home.

Okay. Since we are STILL in lockdown and our travel radius is only 10km, we were not allowed to visit Leo in person or bring him home ourselves. We had to pay for a pet Uber. Yes, a $50 pet Uber ride was the first spoil for our new cat.

We were okay with that. I mean, we really didn't have a choice. Plus, the pet Uber is run through the CPM rescue group, so we knew the money was going to a good cause.

Anyway, Leo is a great cat for us. He is calm, cuddly, and likes to be close. Leo takes his half of the bed from the center, of course. And he sleeps sideways to be able to be close to both of us. You know, so that he can have his head on one of us and his feet and tail on the other.

His favorite activities are eating, sleeping, and then sleeping in a different spot. The birds on the balcony and the telly definitely get his attention.

I know what you're thinking...Does he meow with an Australian accent? Maybe just a little! ;)