It being Holiday time, we thought we’d share a heart-warming adoption story. Louie was a painfully shy, older kitten, who hid under his blanket at Petco and was more interested in the other kitties in his foster home, so we weren’t optimistic about his adoption prospects. But sometimes those perfect adopters materialize and are willing to give a shy kitty a chance, and that’s what finally happened with Louie this fall. Here’s a great update from his mom, Michelle:
I’ve been meaning to write because Louie is doing so well. I’ve been trying to wait to get new adorable pictures of him, but every time I try to get one, he’s in a bright window lately. I got a pretty good one the other day: it looks like he’s winking at me.
I think he’s been making amazing progress. About 4 weeks ago, he started coming to greet me as soon as I would get home. Before that, when I got home, he would EVENTUALLY come to see me. Now, he comes right away. If I don’t see him or hear him around the house, he comes whenever I call… He loves to be petted. He rolls on the ground purring when I pet him, and I can pet him with both hands, although he still prefers just one at a time…
When I’m watching TV and he wants to play or wants me to pet him, he comes and stands up on his hind legs, with his front legs on the arm of the chair, and then taps me on the arm. It’s really cute. When he does that, I encourage him to jump up into my lap and yesterday HE DID IT, TWICE. He didn’t stay long, but he did it.
He sleeps on the bed every night, loves pouncing on my feet, and twice now, I have woken up with him right up against me. He ALWAYS tries to cuddle with NC, but now, he’s started cuddling with me once I fall asleep. I let NC out early in the morning and then usually go back to bed. If I stay in bed too long, Louie wakes me up. He quietly comes close, and then taps me on the shoulder.
The picture of him in the cat bed is next to my desk. He’s there while I’m on the computer. He has even meowed at me when he wants attention. He’s really a character. He’s a very good boy, although he has one bad habit: he likes to chew the cords on my window blinds. That could be really dangerous for him, so now I have them all bundled up where he can’t reach them. When I was redoing my guest room, I must have painted each window sill AT LEAST a half dozen times, because Louie would jump up on them when they weren’t QUITE dry. The paint wasn’t wet enough to track anywhere, but Louie’s HUGE footprints would leave marks. He is a big cat. I think of him as a giant kitten.
He’s gotten very used to my routine, and he’s very calm, except when he racing around playing. He still gets startled sometimes, and he might always be that way. It used to be that whenever I would get up from the table or chair, he would take off running and hide. But now, he doesn’t do that very often. One of my friends who has been over twice and is a cat person, has been able to pet him BOTH times. He’s shy around my flute students, but he is so curious I don’t think he will be able to resist them for much longer. He has already started to come closer to check them out.
He and NC are getting along very well, and they play together quite a lot. There’s a cat bed next to my easy chair and Louie is usually in it. NC prefers to be on the ottoman or on my lap. The other night, NC climbed into the bed, and Louie looked really upset. He got in the bed with NC, and started licking his face. It was so cute, although I am not sure that NC was thrilled. Now I put the one by the computer there so they each have a bed near my TV chair. They’re doing great. There has been no aggression between them. Every time I come home, they are together.
This is the kind of patient, loving guardian we wish for all of our adoptable cats.
