Monday, January 13, 2025

The End of an Era

The pet store near me is closing. First you need to understand by near, I mean walking distance. Like I once carried home twenty pounds of cat litter and I am not a person who regular walks more than a few feet with twenty pounds of anything other than myself if I can help it. 
My recollection was that it opened near the end of my cat Sabrina's life. I was excited because Sabrina was a pretty non-picky eater, but pet stores have a larger range of food, plus toys and other accoutrements. 
The store added a display with adoptable kittens. It was very fun to go visit, because my cat, at that point in her life had no interest in friends, so it was like window shopping for cuteness. I could not be tempted. 
Well, then Sabrina passed. I was planning to enjoy the cat free life for a bit. Try going away for multiple days without having to leave out extra litter boxes. Really live it up. 
And, yeah, I intensely disliked the cat free life. I had a tab open to Petfinder on my phone. I found an adorable set of bonded kittens that I went to visit at another pet store. 
And then some more adorable kittens appeared at the pet store near me. I ended up with Kayla. Kayla who has been my co-worker through several jobs. Encouraged me to take writing breaks. Carefully inspected the floor anytime I cleaned or moved something. Always there to check the fresh sheets to make sure they are acceptable. And who growls at the grocery delivery people before hiding under the bed.
Not too long after I adopted her someone tried to break into the kitten display and they had to remove the kittens. They never had kittens back at the store. I'm not saying the universe took extra steps to place kittens in my path, but I'm not not saying it. 
Kayla is also a very picky eater. So the convenience of a pet store when I realize, oh shoot, emergency pet food needed has been very useful. 
Brick and mortar stores, even chain store, have their uses. I know rents and other such things all must be considered. But seeing the store go is tough. I like being able to buy things online, but it was nice to walk over and grab them. I'm sad that we are making that harder to do.