I have always had a weakness for orange cats. I have an even bigger weakness for polydactyl (extra toes) orange cats. My best friend (of 21 years) Sue knew that and talked me off the ledge once when I called and told her I’d found one I wanted to adopt (I already had two cats). A year later Sue passed away from brain cancer, at the age of 41, exactly three months after being diagnosed. About a week after she passed away I had a very vivid dream about a tiny orange kitten. The next night, I had a business meeting with a group of fellow pet sitters. One woman who does a lot of rescue made an announcement and asked if anyone might be interested in a kitten. I asked her “it’s orange, isn’t it?” Yes, yes he is and he’s only about 5 weeks old, still being bottle fed. I laughed and told her he was mine, when could I pick him up? Well, that whole story didn’t go over very well with my husband and he put his foot down. He told me there was no more room at The Inn. I begged… and pleaded to no avail. A few days later my friend posted a picture of this little orange kitten on her Facebook page:
Seriously? He was a polydactyl and she didn’t tell me!? I finally wore my husband down and he said I could have him. Elated, I called my friend only to hear someone else had agreed to adopt him. I told her I was sorry, but that wasn’t going to work out and to call me and let me know when I could come pick him up. About two days later she called me to tell me he was mine, come get him. I wasted no time and drove over immediately!
It took us almost six weeks to come up with his name. When we brought him back to the vet for his second round of shots they asked if we had come up with a name yet. I said yes, it’s Bob. Everyone just looked at me and burst out laughing! It took SIX WEEKS to come up with “Bob”? Yep, it sure did. Bob. Bob Cat.
Bob was no doubt sent to me by my friend as a bit of light during a very sad time in my life. He does not believe he is a cat, but I’m not sure what he is. He’s awesome, that’s for sure. He is the most outgoing, sociable cat I’ve ever met. We can do ANYTHING to this cat and he takes it in stride.
Bob’s hobbies are sleeping as close to the wood stove as possible, eating plastic bags, origami and sucking his thumb. He sits on the bathroom counter every morning while I blow dry my hair. On his very first day in our home he chased our Jack Russell, Zach, around the coffee table!
He really is a strange cat, but I mean that in a good way!
How about you? Do you have any mesmerizing stories of how your pet found you? Please share!
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