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My username comes from Rose, a twelve-year-old, six-pound domestic shorthaired tabby cat. That's her in the icon. Take a good look, she's about to zip down the hallway like a little gray mousie. She doesn't care for guests.
Rose was rescued by a Good Samaritan who discovered her hiding under a trash bin. Her foster parent had named her Jessica. She was about four months old. I have a "baby" picture of her from around that time. She's on a bed, curled up on the pillow, with a dish of food next to her. Even then, she could get whatever she wanted with one look from those huge eyes.
Jessica was taken to Helen Woodward Animal Center (which offers animal adoptions, educational programs, and a lot more) to find a home. She was quiet and withdrawn in the shelter and no one took much notice of her. In time, though, she was placed in a group home with fourteen other cats. She seemed to get along with her housemates, and staked out her own spot on the arm of an overstuffed chair. But Jessie was shy around people in general and strangers in particular. Her human hosts hardly ever saw her. They decided she deserved better, and returned her to Helen Woodward, where she waited for a better situation.
I met Jessie at the Center ten years ago while volunteering in the cattery. At the time, I was looking for a gentle and nonthreatening companion for my one-year-old cat Missy. (More about her later.) I had a couple of candidates in mind. Then, as I was looking for cats in need of special attention, I noticed a little gray ball in one of the kennels, with two little ear tips. I opened the door and stroked her. Her fur felt like straw and at first she curled up tighter. But after a while she began to purr softly. Then she lifted her head to reveal one of the loveliest cat faces ever. Rounded ears like flower petals, pale silvery cheeks striped with gray lines that highlighted her long whiskers, a delicate cinnamon-colored nose, a boldly marked tabby "M" on her forehead -- and those eyes. Round, yellow-green eyes, surrounded by black eyeliner, and set in circles of silver-gray so that they seemed to float.
Two days later, Jessie came home with me.
Rose was rescued by a Good Samaritan who discovered her hiding under a trash bin. Her foster parent had named her Jessica. She was about four months old. I have a "baby" picture of her from around that time. She's on a bed, curled up on the pillow, with a dish of food next to her. Even then, she could get whatever she wanted with one look from those huge eyes.
Jessica was taken to Helen Woodward Animal Center (which offers animal adoptions, educational programs, and a lot more) to find a home. She was quiet and withdrawn in the shelter and no one took much notice of her. In time, though, she was placed in a group home with fourteen other cats. She seemed to get along with her housemates, and staked out her own spot on the arm of an overstuffed chair. But Jessie was shy around people in general and strangers in particular. Her human hosts hardly ever saw her. They decided she deserved better, and returned her to Helen Woodward, where she waited for a better situation.
I met Jessie at the Center ten years ago while volunteering in the cattery. At the time, I was looking for a gentle and nonthreatening companion for my one-year-old cat Missy. (More about her later.) I had a couple of candidates in mind. Then, as I was looking for cats in need of special attention, I noticed a little gray ball in one of the kennels, with two little ear tips. I opened the door and stroked her. Her fur felt like straw and at first she curled up tighter. But after a while she began to purr softly. Then she lifted her head to reveal one of the loveliest cat faces ever. Rounded ears like flower petals, pale silvery cheeks striped with gray lines that highlighted her long whiskers, a delicate cinnamon-colored nose, a boldly marked tabby "M" on her forehead -- and those eyes. Round, yellow-green eyes, surrounded by black eyeliner, and set in circles of silver-gray so that they seemed to float.
Two days later, Jessie came home with me.
