23 July, 2006
Simon Sunday: Five Years
Furkid
Originally uploaded by Planet Vicster.
This weekend marks five years since Simon (and Chloe) adopted me at the Island Cat Rescue Association adoption center.
I remember the weekend well. The Friday before, I had to tell one of my production staff she was being laid off. I was heartsick for the entire day (and the days leading up to when I could tell her). I spent what seemed like hours in the shower that night but couldn't wash the ick off (obviously, I had never had to do that before...though I hope it's something I NEVER get used to doing).
I had deliberately stayed away from Petco on Saturday afternoons because I knew I'd never be able to resist adopting as many of the kitties as I could carry. But on this Saturday I couldn't stop myself. I immediately saw and fell in love with this sweet, very graceful and serene grey and white kitten called Piccolo. Instantly, knew I was going to adopt her. However, I had decided long before that I would adopt two critters, so they'd always have a companion. I looked at the other kitties and saw this litter of tuxedo kittens. The ICRA volunteer said one of the litter had yet to be adopted and she pulled this little black-and-white tuxedo kitten out for me to meet. What an adorable little guy he was! His name was Shasta and I adopted him and Piccolo (later called Chloe). After the paperwork was settled, my fee paid and the home visit scheduled, I wandered around the store to set up home for my new little furbabies.
After a look around Petco, I decided to check out Pet Club in Emeryville. As I made my way toward the door, the ICRA volunteer stopped me and said there had been a mistake. They had mixed up Shasta with his brother Simon. The black-and-white kitten I thought I had adopted had already been adopted by another family. The volunteer then took out the kitten that was available for me to adopt, to see if I still wanted him.
She put Simon (though now they thought he was actually Shasta) in my hands. He immediately crawled up into my neck and, purring, nuzzled me. I wanted to take him with me immediately, screw the home visit. But they put him back in the crate with his brothers and sisters and I was happy that the whole litter found homes (same with Chloe and her littermate).
Simon and Chloe (or, make that Shasta and Piccolo) came home the following afternoon. There was a bit of hissing and growling at first, but by evening the two of them had already started trying to play with each other. Chloe was about 2 weeks older than Simon (who refused to answer to Shasta, but came bounding across the room when I called him Simon for the first time), so she could jump up on stuff like the bed, while Simon still needed a boost to get up there. (That really pissed him off, too.) It was soon very obvious that I had a very spirited, curious boy on my hands who love, love, LOVED being the center of attention.
These have been five of the sweetest, funniest, snuggliest, purriest years of my life! When I'm down, he'll do something funny or he'll come up with this comical series of vocalizations where he's trying to tell me something REALLY important. When I'm working, he'll bring me a toy. He especially loves to do this when I'm cleaning out his and Billie's litter box. As though having this "prize" is my reward for doing such a tough job. When he wakes up from a nap, he'll chirr for me and come over for a snuggle while he finishes waking up. And he loves to give me purring, kitty-paw neck and shoulder rubs before we go to sleep and just as we wake up in the morning.
(Of course, he also eats cat litter, scatters litter all over the place and shrieks incessantly at me every morning until he gets his breakfast, but this is a LOVING tribute, so we'll overlook these personality quirks for now.)
I'm forever grateful to ICRA for rescuing Simon and his brothers and sisters and giving them a chance at a good life. And, of course, I'm grateful to Simon, who I'm sure engineered the whole "switcheroo" 'cos he knew he had a sucker on his paws!
Here's a couple of excerpts from his Island Cat Rescue Association Kitty Bio:
"Hobbies: Playing & getting LOTS of attention!!!
Other known background: Rescued [w/siblings--vk] from a warehouse in Oakland @ 3.5 wks. of age & bottlefed (sic). They were dehydrated, suffering from upper respiratory & fleas when rescued. This kitty is active, playful, well adjusted, great personality! Needs to be adopted with another littermate or go to a home that has a younger kitty to play with and be a companion. Great Purr!!!"
(Heh. He hasn't changed a bit!)
LISTENING: Black And White from the album "Shabooh Shoobah" by INXS
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Labels: cats, furkids, Simon, Simon Sunday
~~ victoria on 8:16 PM ~~ 0 comments
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