We brought these guys home yesterday afternoon from the local animal shelter. White nose is Matt and dark nose is Perrin. They don’t know they’re Matt and Perrin just yet…we don’t think they knew they were Samson and Samuel before landing in our apartment neither. If you’re a fantasy reader, then you know Robert Jordan, then you know Matt and Perrin.
A bit of history on these guys. They’re 6 years old Snowshoe brothers, rescued along with 68 other cats from a cat hoarder’s house – the majority of her cat hoard were Siamese and Snowshoe mixes. These guys were the last of the bunch to be up for adoption and were actually on the list for euthanization due to behavorial issues. You can’t blame them for being a bit mal-adjusted coming from a hoard and not socialized with people, ever.
The good folks over at the Animal Center of Queens rescued them from death row, treated their upper respiratory infections and neutered them. At first, no one was able to touch them. However, as they became used to the shelter and volunteers, they became friendly.
When the husband and I first met them a week ago, we opened their cage door and boy, did these guys love some petting, cooing and affection! White nose Matt became a purring machine and ragdoll when picked up. Dark nose Perrin was not too keen on being picked up just yet, BUT still was a slut for some loving 
We also met a couple of other crazy cool cats that we fell in love with (Sleepy is a riot and Shayla is so cool, affectionate and very pretty in a girly way). But later on, we decided on the brothers because they’re older than the others and less likely to get adopted due to age and history.
The picture of the brothers above is from the shelter. I would put up a picture of them in their new digs, but they’re currently in hiding behind the printer/scanner/fax machine and all we can see is Matt’s butt sticking out.
They are extremely scared and terrified right now and have been hiding since they got home yesterday afternoon. Their “safe haven” is the office right now…they need to feel confident in that space before being introduced to the rest of the apartment. They have not eaten (dry nor wet), they probably have not had water and they have yet to “use the bathroom”.
Everything is there for them…litter, dry food, wet food, water, carrying case, plush bed, toys…but they’re too freaked out to do anything but hide. The husband petted them a bit and they TOLERATED a pet or two, then retreated. Although they are nothing like the crazily affectionate brothers we met at the shelter last week, we know they’ll come around to it in time (a few weeks, I think). We hope they’ll realize that our little apartment and home is THEIR new home as well and we’re just here to serve
We’re just so glad we got both of them together…can’t imagine the additional stress of separating these brothers after all they have been through. Wish us luck!
