“This is the first pet my husband and I have had together,” explains Addie. “Originally, his name was Keenan, but we decided to change it because, strangely enough, my sister once had a beloved cat named Keenan and we thought it would be too confusing. Our kitty is now known as Mustache (nickname Moose). He has cute little black markings above his mouth that reminded us of a gentlemanly mustache, so we went with it.

“We saw him on the Furry Friends website and thought he was adorable. He was about 3.5 months old when we brought him home, and we were hoping for a kitten, so that was perfect. We had fallen in love with him at his foster house despite the fact that he was really shy and wouldn’t come out from under their couch the first time we tried to meet him! His foster parents were so kind with us and so patient with him that they invited us back the next day to try again. They had managed to get him into his carrier so that we were able to see him, and he allowed us to reach in and pet him. He was so soft and so cute, we knew we wanted to bring him home and take care of him.

“His adjustment to our home was gradual since he was a little wary at first. He hid under our bed for the first night and much of the next day, but he let us reach under and pet him — and he even purred. The next night, he hopped up on top of the bed with us, and we knew we were making progress. It took several more days to coax him out into the hallway and further into the living room. Now he runs all over the place and has explored every corner of our apartment.

“We love him so much and can’t imagine not having him around. We didn’t know it at the time, but life was so boring before we had Mustache. He brings us so much joy, and we are grateful to Furry Friends and his foster parents for taking care of him when he was little and for guiding us through the adoption process. A total goofball, he entertains us every day. He’s very social, and when my husband and I (we both work from home) are in the same room, he’ll run in to join us. We call it ‘having a team meeting.’ He also ‘helps’ my husband, Mike, with his work by getting up on his desk, and has even said hello to some of his clients during their zoom calls.

“Mustache is very playful. His current favorite toys are strips of cardboard from such things as frozen pizza boxes. He bats them around, throws them, chases them, pounces on them and loses them under the doors. It’s hilarious! He also loves to chase springs, which he picks up in his mouth and carries to wherever he wants to ‘do battle.’ The ball tracker toy is another favorite, and he also likes the wand toy.

“A cuddle bug when he’s in the right mood, he loves being petted, especially around his face. He purrs like a motor boat and even starts drooling sometimes. He doesn’t really like to be picked up or carried, but he’ll hop up on the couch and crawl into my lap and take a nap there.

“He’s also very alert to the weather, and loves sitting by the windows to check things out. Sometimes when it’s snowing or raining, he gets feisty and tries to boop the snowflakes or raindrops. When it’s very windy and leaves are blowing around outside, he likes chasing them from behind the window.

“At night, he usually sleeps next to our feet at the end of the bed although he has his own kitty bed nearby. When Mike is sleeping on his side, Mustache loves to curl up behind the bend of his knees.”

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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.