Adopting a Snow Leopard

I had a Leopard for eight months when I decided to adopt a Snow Leopard instead. The past few months were filled with rumors and soundbites that Snow Leopards were friendlier, more graceful, and faster than Leopards, but at the same time, counter-points against their slightly volatile nature towards Leopard toys also emerged. Those last points kept me from fully adopting a Snow Leopard, though I held an adolescent one in my hands in the middle of June.

Naturally, I was scared. My Leopard was invaluable to me, with near-perfect devotion and respect for me since January, and to adopt a Snow Leopard felt like starting over. So when August 28 came around and the primary animal shelter announced that their pets were available for public adoption, I was initially hesitant.

A comprehensive report of the toys that Snow Leopards play well with, eventually changed my mind. All of my toys were known to be loved by the big cats, with the exception of one or two, which I could stash away out of sight. For the cats themselves, they harbored no known illnesses or aversions to local climates, so as such, on September 1, I adopted a Snow Leopard full-time.

Three days later, things went wrong, partially my fault. I introduced a worn toy that my cat did not like, and at the sight of it, she tore through my papers and music collection. She practically scratched me to ribbons and refused to cooperate with me after her chaotic fit, no matter how much I pushed her. Luckily, I made copies of my essentials and stashed them in a safe place, but it took one entire exhausting day to remove the offending toy and put the copies in place of the irreparable originals, as well as make sure that its home was clean to its liking. Also, I had to mend my wounds.

Thankfully, all was peaceful after that day. As of this moment, my Snow Leopard is playing nicely. In fact, were it not for the different-colored coat, I could mistake it for my old Leopard. This is a relationship that I could surely build, and hopefully it can play well with all of my toys (at the time of writing, Onyx is the only toy in my collection that the cat refuses to touch, no matter what) someday. This new cat should be pretty hassle-free.

Or not.