he belly-flopped into my heart: a kitten tail

Hemi came into my life in an unexpected way. After moving across the country to marry my husband, I have been working minimally outside the home, and been wanting a pet.

Living in an apartment, a cat was our best option. I had a cat at one time, but had left a 9 year old dog with my parents back East. I'm a nice girl, and I like kittens just as much as anyone, but I don't like cats, as a general rule.

After bugging my husband, fighting with my live-in BIL, and a little financial boost from my father, the day finally came when we were going to shelters to look at cats! I had researched a few area shelters, looked on-line, and thought I knew what I was looking for: 1+yr, short-haired, de-clawed female.

The first shelter we went to was about to close, so we looked around, saw a few and went to the office to ask about them. I remarked to the worker about how friendly they all seemed, rubbing their heads on the bars of the cages. She proceeded to inform me that this is called kennel syndrome, and they rub their heads on the bars to relieve stress. With this tidbit of disheartening knowledge, we left that shelter empti-handed.

On our way to the second shelter, I held my head in my hands, which alarmed my husband. When he questioned if I was alright, I told him that I was saying a little prayer that I would find the right cat. He smiled a squeezed my hand reassuringly.

Even though the second shelter would still be open for a few hours, we found the cat kennels free of people, safe a few staff and volunteers. As we walked past a few cages, I asked one of the workers a few questions about different animals, based on my criteria, while a few other lookers filtered in.

When I walked with the worker to one of the cages, she was telling us that this(MARCH) wasn't kitten season, and that they had one three month-old kitten, (male and medium- hair). When I walked up to the cage, this fluffy ball of fur hopped around on the carpeted furniture in his cage. Then, right when I bent down by the cage, he flung himself belly first, onto the front of the cage! I have only seen one cat do this before, and it was so funny. :) I knew already that he was the one!

We went through the formalities, and my husband even looked at another cat. But I wasn't about to let this little guy get away. I filled out paperwork and picked him up the next day! We have been living happily ever after! :)