My effort to increase 'legitimate' RPCA posts. (A lot of this has been
posted before, quite along time ago.)

I had Lucky for less than a year or so when I decided to get a kitten.
(I got Blizzard when she was far too young to be weaned, but I didn't
know better back then. She had worms and ear mites.

I thought Lucky would like a companion, but although Blizzard was just a
tiny thing and only wanted to play, it took *six months* for them to
become friends.

It was funny to watch: after about 3 months, Lucky would be sitting on
the sofa, and Blizzard would jump up and slooooly approach Lucky, and
then reach out one paw and just tap Lucky on her side. Blizzard would
then scamper off the sofa and look back to see if Lucky would follow;
she wanted to play tag!

Later, for until Lucky went to the RB, they were always together. They
would wrestle around the living room, and though Blizzard was younger,
Lucky had been a barn kitten, and was faster and much smarter than
Blizzard. But Lucky would let Blizzard 'win' about half the time, and
they were great company for each other when I worked long hours, (as I
still do).

When I got home, they were both consummate lap fungi, keeping me warm on
winter nights while my 75 year old furnace (coal converted to natural
gas; always barely working) struggled to heat my little house.

After Lucky went to the RB, I thought she seemed awfully sad, looking
for Lucky, and I decided to get another cat or kitten.

Kenzie was about 3 years old, and her humans were desperately seeking a
good home for her. Their 7 year old son had developed severe asthma, and
they had been looking, with no success, for several months. They
wouldn't  give her to a no kill shelter, insisting they wanted to know
where she went. I learned of her through my previous volunteer work at
another no kill shelter, and made the 35 mile drive, with my carrier, to
meet her.

I talked to one of her humans for probably 2 hours on the phone, and I
think she decided they couldn't do much better than me. I had
volunteered at one of the local no kill shelters, and evenings and some
Saturdays, I volunteered at my TED's clinic, assisting with surgery.
(That's when I learned about declawing, and what finally drove me away,
unfortunately.)

I remember seeing Kenzie down the length of a hallway, and thinking how
pretty she was. Her human called her, and I got down on my knees, and
Kenzie came right up to me for scritches and petting. She has a very
loud purr, and she started immediately.

Her humans kept asking me if I liked her, and if I would like to keep
her. I think they were afraid if I didn't take Kenzie, they would have a
hard time finding someone else. Of course I fell in love with her, even
if Blizzard never did.

Kenzie isn't a lap fungus, like Lucky and Blizzard; it took me about 2
years to get her to jump up on the sofa, she had been trained not to.
(Why? Don't sofa's *exist* for cats to rest and sleep upon?

Now, on occasion, after 6 years, on relatively rare occasions, Kenzie
will jump up on my lap while I'm watching TV, for a long session of
scritches. She doesn't stay much past a half hour or so, but a few times
she has curled up and taken a nap.

Both my RB kitties slept on my lap at every opportunity; now that it's
such a rare event, I appreciate it all the more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Life without cats would be only marginally worth living."
-TC, and the unmercifully, relentlessly, sweet calico kitty, Kenzie.

How you behave towards cats here below determines your status in Heaven.
- Robert Heinlein

Life is very difficult. Once you understand that, life becomes easier.
-Buddha