Queen Of Hearts kitty rescue by Elizabeth Watsonville, CA

[hifiguy]

7. Cats absolutely pick their people.

My first shelter cat had experienced a very hard life and had been abandoned outside in a Minnesota winter when his family moved away. He was an older kitty and he looked so sad in his Feline Resuce website pic. When I called the foster told me that I was the first person to call about him in the year she had had him "Everybody wants a kitten, no one wants a nice older cat."

After I hung up the phone and stopped crying I knew he was the cat for me. When I met him he actually came out and said "hi" and let me pet and brush him. He went home with me that day. He hid for a while at his new home and it took him a while to get some cattitude back, but he did. He even started meowing after a couple of weeks because I kept meowing at him. Max was with me for five years and two weeks; kidney failure got him at 16+ years.

A few weeks later I was going nuts without a cat. I saw a couple cute ones on the same website and decided to go over and meet them. One was already gone and the other was a little too skittish. I sat down in the waiting area and this big ol' Turkish Van looking cat came over and sat in the next chair, looking straight at me as if to say "You've seen the rest, but I'm the best." He wound up coming home with me. I wondered how he'd act after I got him home. No worries - he popped out of the cat carrier, took one look and said "all mine now" and was asleep on the couch within a half hour. Kidney failure got Butch too, after only 2.5 years together.

Next time I will get a young adult cat. Losing such a good friend in such a short time is just too hard.