Long before adopting Jackson, Dan and I had a relatively normal life. We had a cat before, Waverli, who I raised from 7 days old until she slipped out our front door one day and was killed by a car. She just celebrated her fifth birthday. I was devastated, and still am everyday. We weren't going to get another cat, but since I grew up with one (or 4) always in the house I just felt incomplete. So I started looking.. craigslist, petfinder, friends, family, shelters. I went thru a few hundred cats and kittens before finally coming across Jackson at a local shelter.
He was your typical "unadoptable" plain, black, and past-the-adorable-kitten-stage kinda cat. He was 5 months old. Jackson had a very charming personality, though I overlooked him the first time I visited. As I came back each week he seemed to work harder and harder for my attention until I was sure he'd rub every last hair from his face off on the bars. I had one stipulation from my other half and that was to find a "friendly cat" as Waverli was a typical calico and could be "moody" as he put it. I thought she was perfectly fine. As people would enter our home I would say to them "Don't act stupid and she'll like you just fine" and by that I meant do not try to pet her, pick her up, chase her, corner her, etc. and for God's sake please don't baby talk her. She is a mature adult! Back to Jackson though. Dan came up to meet him, liked him better than I thought he would, and off we went to the store to pick him up toys and food stuffs. Everything went perfectly when we brought him home. He was so well behaved, affectionate, loved the dogs, never scratched inappropriately on things or jumped on the counters. I thought I scored the equivalent of feline GOLD. Once he fully settled in though.. the stories began. The bad cat stories..
As of early 2012, I lived alone with my cat Peru. Soon after, Dustin
moved into the house. He got to the point where he admitted he saw Peru
as his cat also. Something was missing, though. Dustin really wanted a
cat that we could adopt together. He insisted that Peru would do well
and be happier with a kitten to keep him company. I didn't know what to
expect since it had been awhile since I had a kitten. I had adopted Peru
as an adult.
On August 3, 2012, we went to the local shelter. They had a cat room,
and Dustin didn't waste time. He wanted a cat to pick him instead of the
other way. He sat right on the floor, and a little 3 month old solid
black kitten jumped right into his lap. The kitten seemed content, not
wanting to move. I knew we had found the perfect one. When we got home,
Peru seemed to accept him, and the kitten was so calm. We named him
Tycho, and he slept in my lap all day. The next day, we quickly noticed
he wasn't the calm cat we thought. We brushed it off as him being a
kitten. Many months later, we have realized the craziness is just
getting started.
