Finding His Place

Our New Kitty has lived with us little over 3-1/2 days and he acts and feels like he has been waiting his whole life to find us.

My son tells me this little black furball found him by putting his paw up to the clear, plastic window in his accommodations at the S.P.C.A. and he pawed at the window steadily. First, with one paw; then he alternated with the other.

This gesture caught my son's eye and he had to bring him out and hold him. I walked up just as this was happening and I was witness to the instant and natural loving personality of this little guy.

I scratched his ears and leaned in to listen to his purr. "He has to pass the purr test," I told my son. I love when a cat purrs like a motor. It makes my knees go weak when I can hear that purr across a room (Senior Cat had that awesome purring talent).

His purr wasn't loud, but it was steady and came easily.

I reached out to take a turn holding him and it was as if this little kitty reached his arms out to me at the same time and climbed into my arms like a toddler alternating from one parent's arms into the other. It took my breath away.

I held him for a while then moved him a little to shift my hold on him. Then he hugged me. It was unmistakeable. He clasped his little arm around my neck and held on in a way I've never been held by a cat.

He has hugged us time and time again. You can see the way he clasps onto the neck of the one who is adoring him.

I don't know if he treated everyone the same as he treated us. Most likely. I think he would have went home with anyone who cared to adopt him. But he found us.

And so he came into our home with the attitude, "I'm home, at last!!"

He wandered through the house and explored the nooks and crannies (and apparently the ceiling in the laundry room as well) with great curiosity.

He met our Only Cat and each of them gave the other the nose-to-nose greeting without a hiss or a howl or anything other than just plain old curiosity (the low grade meowl from our pre-existing cat in residence came later, as they worked out the status among felines between themselves).

King Cat in Residence to the left; New Kitty to the right.

We introduced him to the litter box to ensure he knew its location, then the food and water dishes. He ate. And ate and ate. Then ate some more. It was as if he was used to food rationing and he had to eat while the eating was good. Or he simply liked our Gold Nugget (gastrointestinal special diet) cat food.

My son then showed him his room. I unofficially call my son's room The Cat Room because it is where all in-house cats go to rest. His room speaks to our cats. It seems to be where they are drawn to when they need some time away from the busyness within our home.

Then he came back upstairs and discovered our cat fountain. "Ooooo! What is this? This house really comes fully equipped" is what it seemed like he was thinking as he explored and tasted the water from this fountain.

Our New Kitty loves to lay down beside the cat water fountain - a little white noise calms his little kitty soul

His first night with us started with a yowl (probably from King Cat) as they started working out the hierarchy between themselves. So I convinced New Cat to sleep with me for a while, while my son took King Cat into his room to reaffirm he had not lost any status in our home. By the morning, this was their status:

Still some work to be done

It's all been gravy since then. New Cat has endeared himself with my little daycare family and is all about playing and being part of the crowd.

This process of getting to know "Jet", our New Kitty, has been enjoyable thus far. I like watching what he brings out within our little family. My son and I have found more to talk about (after feeling like I had lost him to computer games, YouTube and the Internet). He is bringing the kitten out of "Ray", our resident King Cat. I love losing myself to the great wonders of cats. Together and apart. I love when he wraps his little kitty arm around my neck and chooses to come and snuggle up beside or on top of me.

Most of all, I am so very happy and grateful that this mutual adoration and contentment seems to be a two way street. He looks pretty happy here within our heart and home.

Jet may not be the King Cat, but he is most definitely the King of the Kid's Castle