I was doing a little shopping for the guinea pigs Saturday with my mother. The local humane society was having a small adoptathon at the pet store. In no way was I looking for another pet but cute animals always catch my eye so I rubbernecked as we passed. My mother spotted a cat that looked quite a bit like the cat she had when she was growing up. We stopped to look at it. My mother chatted a bit and I was ready to move on, make our purchases and leave. Memory being the funny thing it is, I’m not sure if the woman helping with the adoptathon pointed the other cat out or if we were drawn to it in fascination of his stature but we somehow ended up at the cage of Lebowski.

The woman offered to get him out of the cage but he was sleeping and extremely large so I didn’t want to wake him. You see, I love animals but I have had mixed results with cats. The majority of cats I’ve met in my life were aloof jerkfaces. The one I owned was a demon from hell (I later learned that he came from feral cats which explained A LOT about his behavior.) The last thing I wanted was a very large, very pissed off cat to be thrust into my arms. As I was chanting, “No, no, no, that’s okay,” she took him out of the cage and showed him to me. He opened his eyes to slits and then held out his arms to me to be picked up. I took him from the woman. He placed his front paws on my shoulder, laid his head down, and purred.

I held him, petting him while he purred, for a good fifteen minutes. No biting, no scratching, just love. I don’t think I’ve ever wanted an animal so much in my entire life. After I reluctantly handed him back to the woman, I told her that I had to make a phone call.

“M, you need to come down to the pet store.”

“*Sigh* Why.”

“I just met the coolest cat.”

“No.”

“It held its arms up to me to pick it up. Like a baby!”

“It will eat the guinea pigs.”

Oh, yeah. We have guinea pigs. I glanced to the pile of hay, treats, and a snack shack placed aside when I picked up the cat.

“I can put something on top of the cage.”

“No. Come home.”

“If you just met him.”

“No!”

I hung up. The woman was showing cats to another family. I her eye, shook my head, and mouthed, “Sorry.”

Since then, I’ve been checking the Humane Society’s web page like a stalker, seeing if he’s still there. Part of me hoped that he’d be adopted by a great family that would take really good care of him. Part of me hoped he’d still be there so I can visit him.

If you want to meet the coolest cat in the world, he’s in the lobby of Heartland Humane Society.

My guinea pigs will thank you

Cats & Kittens