Good home sought for inseparable pair

Baby and Patches are quite the pair, and a bit of an odd couple.

Baby is an elderly female red “Chiweenie,” a cross between a Chihuahua and a dachshund. She’s about 14. Patches, a female domestic short-hair calico cat, is roughly 10 years old. It was a sad fate that brought them to the Humane Society of Northwest Montana’s Charlotte Edkins Animal Adoption Center north of Kalispell, said Lori Heatherington, executive director of the Humane Society.

The pets’ owner died recently, and the owner’s child who arrived to sort out the estate was in no position to take the cat and dog duo.

“There’s the guilt of having to get rid of mother’s pets,” Heatherington said. “It’s a heart-breaking tale. This is the sweetest odd couple the Humane Society has ever taken in-house.”

Ideally, the shelter doesn’t house dogs and cats together, but is making an exception for Baby and Patches, who are inseparable.

“These poor senior babies, they’re the sweetest little things,” Heatherington said. When Baby uses the cat’s litter box, Patches dutifully covers up the droppings.

The shelter is housing the pair in its receiving room — the only space available to accommodate the mixed mates — and is searching for an adopter who can take both pets.

“They deserve to be together,” she said. “People forget that pets who are bonded, when they are separated one may do OK, but the other may languish and pass away” prematurely.

Baby has a slight heart murmur and has been placed on an inexpensive medication. They’re indoor pets.

“I know the right adopter is out there, we just need to expand our reach to find them,” Heatherington added.

Anyone interested in adopting the pair may contact the shelter at 406-752-7297.