As you may know, I lost my cat companion of over 20 years late last year.  For a period of time, I was undecided about whether I wanted another pet or not.  Or, whether I should get a dog or a cat.

That indecision was resolved as I found myself cruising the local Humane Society website and ended up spending more time on the cat pages.  And, then I found myself always coming back to the photo of one 4 month old kitten.  So, I decided to go meet him.

I don’t know if it’s the same everywhere, but here, the Humane Society is composed of a group of volunteer “Foster Parents”.  The volunteers cruise the local Animal Shelter and scoop up as many animals as they can.  The cats and dogs then live with the foster family until they are adopted.

One meeting was all it took.  The kitten was pretty laid-back, friendly and curious.  Of course.  He had been found in a parking lot, so he’d probably been on the street for a while, and was pretty skinny.  His attitude and the way he moved reminded me of one of the characters on Friends, and so he was named Joey. 

Now, the house is back to feeling normal again – with the sound of little cat feet padding around the place.  It’s been a lot of fun having him around.  He’s got a lot of energy being young, of course.  But, he’s also the most intelligent cat I’ve known.  I’ve taught him to fetch his favorite toy, a wire with a few suede tails tied on one end.  It also seems funny to me that he sleeps on his back with his legs in the air, or sometimes with his back legs crossed.  He looks like he’s sitting in a recliner. 

He always uses the litter box, and in fact finds it disgusting when the box is cleaned out.  As I’m trying to remove the solid waste, he’s working just as hard trying to get it all covered up again the way he’d left it!

So, if you’re looking for a pet, try the local humane society.  I think an animal whose life was a bit messy at the start can sometimes end up making one of the best companions.