Rufus, The New Family Member

Why did I adopt a cat?

We had two. OK, they weren't mine. They were Megan's babies. I liked Dink and Envy, they were very sweet kitties.

I wanted our own cat. Marty wanted a black cat and I like black cats myself. This guy was at the Humane Society (named Rueben -- their spelling). Here's his bio!

"Rueban - Adopted! Domestic Short Hair-Black
"More About Rueban
"Rueban is a male kitty around 6 years old. He is such a sweetheart. He loves to be brushed and petted and will sit in your lap as long as you let him. He is a big purr machine and will "make biscuits" when he is really happy. He's a laid-back guy, not really interested in playing but would much rather be getting pets from you. He even will roll over for belly rubs. Rueban has potential with cats but it is not known how he would be with dogs."

At the Humane Society, I asked them to bring in a very friendly, stable Pit girl dog named Windie. Rueben was fine with her. Ignored her which is perfect. I actually felt a little awkward asking them to test him with dogs but they were so agreeable to doing that and they got 6 other cats tested as well at the same time. It was an interesting process.

I had hung out with him a couple of times at the shelter and had Marty come in to see him and other black kitties as well.

I did NOT want a kitten. No thanks! Adorable but they are crazy-batsh*t-huts! I wanted an adult cat. He seemed to fit the bill nicely. I wanted someone who was pretty mellow and friendly.

Plus Rueben needed a home and was unlikely to get one soon. He was not doing well coming back to the shelter (that's another story) and had lost a lot of weight. He's an older (6 years old) BLACK cat. We have at least 8 black cats at the shelter.

By the way, I can't take credit for the two really good pictures of him. They were taken by someone at the Humane Society.

More later....