Jackson (white & red) and Boo (gray)I think my bad photography skills added 1o lbs to Jackson in this shot; they're both normal sized cats and he's smaller than Boo.
I've been on a cat hunt for about two months now, looking for the perfect pair of bonded kitties. I actually met Jackson and Boo at the San Diego Humane Society the first day I started looking. But they were grumpy that day because they'd just been introduced to a new habitat at the society. So I kept looking on craigslist and at other shelters, but I came back a few weeks later after they had settled to see what they were like when they weren't stressed out. Then I came back 4 more times. The employees and volunteers started joking they were going to name a wing after me.
I decided last week I was for sure going to adopt Boo and Jackson, but I needed to wait until my new tile floor was installed in the bathroom because I knew it would be loud and upsetting for my new roommates. I was SO ANXIOUS all week that someone would adopt them now that I'd finally made my decision! I visited them on Wed and also asked if they could be put on hold. Nope. On Saturday I stopped by because I was down the street at the tile store getting grout to see if I could adopt them that day and pick them up Sunday afternoon. Nope again.
All day Sunday I was impatient for my friend to finish with the loud part of installing my floor. I wanted my kitties! And I was becoming more and more certain that someone was going to come steal them out from under my nose. Finally at noon I decided I was going to get them even though Max wasn't quite done yet.
My heart was pounding the entire 12 minute drive. I really did believe they'd be gone and I was trying to prepare myself so I wouldn't be super upset. It was all I could do not to run to the end of the hallway to the "cat aquarium" room they were in to see if they were still there. I got about 8 feet from the window and saw Jackson's little white and red body and a huge grin burst across my face. I didn't even finish walking up to the window to see them; I rushed back to the customer service desk to get a buzzer and wait for an appointment with a counsler.
I felt much better, but I was still worried that the 5 or 6 people in front of me might try and take them. I went and loitered by the window watching all the cats in the aquarium. A volunteer was telling a mom and her son about the personalities of all the cats in the room. When she got to "And the two sleeping together in that box are Jackson and Boo..." I interrupted and blurted out "I'm adopting them today!"
When we got home, I hurried in to The Cat Room (the office) that I'd prepared for them. This is where they'd stay for the next 48 hours while they acclimated. I let them out of their boxes and sat against the wall to watch them explore the room. Boo jumped out of her box immediately while Jackson took a few seconds longer, sitting up really tall like a ferret and peering around at his new surroundings before he hopped out and started prowling the room. They were very curious, especially about the door to the hallway and the door to the closet. They managed to get the closet door open. I let them poke around for a minute, but then I blocked the closet because I didn't want them hiding in there all day.
For the rest of the afternoon, I'd leave them for about an hour, then go back in for 30-45 minutes to pet and play. By the time I went to bed, we were doing really good. Jackson's not shy and starts purring pretty soon after you start petting him. He staked a claim on lying in the office chair. Whenever I'd walk over to the chair to pet him, Boo would get up and come cautiously wind around my legs and want pets too. Then when I'd sit down she'd come to me with just the slightest encouragement. I can tell she wants to come to me so that's nice. Jackson will crawl in my lap and let me hold him:
Jackson, the lap cat.
Boo, the next to your lap cat. Her eyes are always really dialated, so it's hard to get a picture of her without laser eyes unless you overexpose her from the side.Before I went to bed, I went in one last time and sat in the office chair. Jackson jumped up in my lap and 10 seconds later Boo was at my feet looking up at us. I could tell she wanted to be by us. The chair isn't big, but I scooted over enough to make room for her to sit and she jumped up almost immediately and laid next to us, wrapping herself along my thigh and round my hip.
I can't tell you how nice it is NOT to be checking criagslist every 3 hours for cat listings!
I've had my roommates for just over a week now. Jackson likes to play and purr, lay on me, paw at my nose at 5am when he wants me to wake up and pet him, and to scratch the couch. Grrr. Although he's getting better now that I've strategically placed the 3 scratching apparati. But we've got a way to go.
Boo likes to sit right next to me, give Jackson (and me) baths, makes a "muurrrr?" noise when she wants attention, doesn't audibly purr (I've felt it though), just started using her voice with me today (she didn't meow at all the first week) and likes to snuggle up next to me under the couch blanket tent I make for her. But mostly she likes to give me and Jackson baths:
This is what my cats do all day:
Posts
