“We recently adopted Cleo from Furry Friends,” says Bethany. “We’ve had pets before, a Beagle named Baxter and a cat named Lucky, both of whom have since passed. After that, we went without a pet for many years — until our daughter asked us to cat sit for her and we fell in love with her cat! Of course we had to give her cat back, but we sure missed having him around.

“So I searched almost daily for the right cat to adopt. One day I visited Furry Friends, and while I met each cat there, I was drawn to Cleo, especially to her gray and white coloring. I left but then quickly returned, worried that I’d miss the chance to adopt her. We kept Cleo’s name yet we hardly ever call her that. It’s usually ‘kitty kitty.’

“When we brought Cleo home, she immediately walked around the house as if she owned the place. Then she grew shy for about a month, finding places to hide such as under our bed. Slowly, she warmed up and got used to her new environment and the ways of our household. Her favorite spot to sit now is between us on the couch on her super soft blanket.

“It’s so much fun to see her first thing in the morning and throughout the day. We greet her constantly. Cleo loves her fluffy feather ball and rubber bands. She carries the rubber bands around in her mouth then plays with them. She also loves rolling around on the rugs where I’ve sprinkled catnip.

“Cleo loves sitting with me in the morning (before she does, she makes a ‘good batch of biscuits’) while I have my coffee. In fact, she sits right next to me, extra close, which is quite cute, sometimes sniffing my coffee or whatever’s on my plate.

“We always have a bowl of dry food for her to eat and a bowl of fresh water to drink. Every evening, we give her a can of wet food. Her favorite is Fancy Feast Chicken. She also has the curious habit of occasionally taking her dry food from the bowl with her paw and eating it out of her paw, and touching her water before she drinks it.

“Being an older cat, Cleo sleeps all day and all night, but she’s always awake in the morning with me and for much of the evening when my husband and son are home. In between, she perches herself on the dining room chair that I’ve placed by the front window to watch the birds, cars and people pass by. She also enjoys sitting close to the sliding glass door with the screen where the squirrels, bunnies and occasional fly keep her endlessly entertained.”

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Furry Friends Fur-Ever Stories are compiled and written by Nomi Berger who is the bestselling author of seven novels, one work of non-fiction, two volumes of poetry, and hundreds of articles. She is a volunteer writer for Furry Friends in Vancouver, WA and also volunteers her writing skills to animal rescue groups in Canada and the USA. She lives with her adopted Maltese named Mini.