Nels

Nels has beautiful blue eyes, but unfortunately, my photo doesn't show them.

Nels is inspecting the new basket from a choir friend.

Purr . . . this is comfortable!

Purr. Purr. Purr.

Nels, my new cat, came to live with me on Thursday, December 24. It has been an interesting past ten days. First of all, I was very surprised, and happy, to learn he is a very friendly cat. He loves being held, petted, and shadowing me. At night he snuggles with me in my bed, often wanting to be under the covers with me. I've never had a cat who behaves this way.

Here's what I know about him. On December 16 he was found outside someone's home. They took him in and put up posters letting folks know he had been found and the owners could come to get him. No one replied. They already had a pet so they couldn't keep him. On December 21, they took him to the Humane Society. He was given a physical and the only issue they found was possible gingivitis. On the 23rd, the society gave him his shots, neutered him, and put an identification micro chip in his neck. They estimated his age at 2 years. On the 24th, he came up for adoption. That was my lucky day!

Annika and I looked at two other cats before spending any time with this cat. The first two were not friendly. In fact, they hissed at Annika. That wasn't a good sign. When Nels (they called him Sterling) was brought into the little room with us, he brushed up against each of us. Annika rolled a toy ball with a bell inside to him and he loved playing with it. We spent about 45 minutes with him, and he never once showed any signs of aggression. Not only was he beautiful, but he was very gentle and friendly. That's it. He's the one. I'll take him.

He was put in a "holding cage" while I filled out the paper work. Even then, he put his little foot out of the cage onto Annika's shoulder. She called him Jack and thought he was very special (Annika loves animals!). After living with him a couple of days, I decided on the name Nels (my great-grandfather's name), because he looks so Scandinavian with his blue eyes.

Last Monday I took him to my veterinarian for a check-up. Sure enough, they confirmed his gingivitis. They recommended cleaning his teeth as soon as possible so that his gums could heal. Thursday he spent the day there, where they not only cleaned the teeth but pulled 4 of them. They said they could tell by his teeth that he is actually 13 or 14 months old. They put his birthday at October 24, 2009. So, that is the date I am going with.

One of my choir friends gave Nels a beautiful basket full of goodies today: toys, catnip scratching carpet to hang from a door knob, kitty treats, a litter box, litter, and a scoop, plus a toy, stuffed kitten. Thank you, Nora!

I'm sure enjoying having another breathing being at home with me.