We’ve been planning on adopting a kitten since before we got engaged. So, basically for the past 10 months. We have both always had cats in our homes growing up (Randall….) and have been sooo excited to get one of our own. I suggested we get one after I find a job so that we would have that solid extra income in case of cat emergencies, etc. (P.S. I found a job. I work on UC Berkeley campus) Soo what was the first thing that came to mind when they offered me the job? CAT! I had a few rescue centers/adoption agencies picked out that we would go check out the next Saturday. The first was at a woman’s house who had fostered a small litter of kittens since birth and volunteered through a rescue agency. She was kind of nuts. In a cat kind of a way. Not only were there 4 kittens running around but she had 3 of her own and 2 dogs. It was an experience. There were 3 really pretty white kittens and one grey striped one. We had kind of already decided against white kittens (and orange ones) because we don’t really think they’re that cute when they’re old…sorry white and orange cats. So even though the kittens were super cute that left us with only one option which was the grey tabby. He was so adorable. But not the most friendly….so we told her that we were going to keep looking. She reacted as though we had rejected her own human children. “Really!? That has only happened to me 4 times!” (She claims to have fostered over 1,000 cats in the past 15 years.) We told her we just weren’t connecting with any of them and if we’re going to have this cat for 20 years, we want it to be the right one. It was awkward. But, as the truest of cat lovers, she understood. And we were out of there. Then we sat in the car trying to figure out where to go next. We had a few more options closer to home but I had this really weird strong feeling about going to a particular Petco where a rescue center was holding an adoption event. I say ‘weird’ because we’re talking about a cat, here, people. Not even the type of life decision that determines your destiny. But I’ve seen the Animal Planet show, My Cat From Hell. And I don’t want one from there. Also, Randall, who is my black cat at my parent’s home, who is also my baby, doesn’t like me…? I don’t know why. I’ve had him since I was 12 and he was a baby Halloween cat. But he doesn’t let me hold him ever or really see him during the day….but I still LOVE him. So basically my heart has been gushing out love for a cat who does not even really care about it or reciprocate it and has not for 11 years. I just want a cat who loves me! (Also, just because we have one here, does not make me love Randall any less.) ANYWAYS, back to the cat whisperer feelings. So we drive like a million miles to this random Petco in the middle of nowhere and we walk inside and there were tons of kittens. And the first one we saw was this tiny little black and white tuxedo kitten. Just sitting in his cage all alone. The volunteers could see the joy and love and excitement oozing from my face so they were super willing to let us hold any of them. So we pick up the tuxedo one first. He was cantankerous, hissing at the other cats and swatting at us. We put him back. Picked up another kitten. And for some reason I had this feeling that the first tuxedo was the one we were supposed to take home. I tried to squash that feeling, because I was looking for a kitten that was nice and sweet and purring and not the devil reincarnate. So we looked at a few more. And then I started to cry. It was too heartbreaking seeing all these cats in cages without homes. (Yes, I was embarrassed.) And also I was crying because I knew that that little tuxedo was supposed to go home with us. Not crying because I was sad that he was sort of mean, but because I knew that he needed LOVE! Aaaaand, Jordan felt the exact same way. Kismet? Yes. So we talked to the women volunteering there and they said that he wouldn’t be so surly in a home. He was just super stressed out and agitated from all the people and commotion and being stuck in a cage. One of them had fostered him and said he was super playful and fun and sweet and the thought crossed my mind that maybe she was just trying to get rid of him but we stuck with our faith and took him home. As soon as we picked him up and put him in our cat carrier it was like he was a different animal. Silent, calm, just kind of checking us out. He cried a little on the way home when we were on the freeway but every time we’d slow down, he would stop. So we took him into our bedroom and shut the door so he wouldn’t be overwhelmed by the rest of the apt. And he soared! He was so so happy! Prancing around and curling up in our laps and eating food and checking out his litter and playing with feathers. He slept in my arms all night. I don’t know why I had the feeling to go to that particular adoption event, and I don’t know why Jordan and I both had the feeling that he was the one after our only, semi-adverse, interaction with him. But he’s ours! And he’s been like a dream come true. He cries when he can’t see us, he climbs up my legs and up my back when I’m standing so he can perch on my shoulders (which makes me ALMOST pee every time because it’s hilarious and I never see it coming), he falls asleep in our arms and laps, when I’m sitting on a chair he’ll jump into our laps, crawl up our arms and sleep behind our necks across my shoulders. He’s almost as obsessed with us as we are with him. Oh and his name’s Willis, and yes, I understand that I just wrote like 50 pages about a cat and that’s about 90 points on the Crazy Cat Lady scale…and I have no justification for that, except for my recent degree in English, which I have to make use of somewhere (blog posts).
