Meet Oliver!

Last Saturday Michael noticed a cat in our yard roaming around.  Monday evening (December 3) we went to get the mail and the same cat came bounding up to us.  He started to purr and rub himself on our legs. Then he flopped in the street and did the 'roll over show belly' pose and kept purring.  We scratched his face and showered him with attention for a few minutes and then had to go inside.

As we walked back to the house, the kitty followed us.  He was sprinting and meowing and finally reached the porch when we did.   He longingly looked at the front door.  Michael asked "Should we let him in?" and sat on the porch to keep scratching his head.

We decided this would become moot if he belonged to someone.  I called my neighbor, who is an animal lover and knows what goes on in our neighborhood, to see if she knew his story.  "He is a stray, and has been around for 3 weeks.  Various people have been feeding him sporadically and he needs a home.  Can you and Michael adopt him?"

In a moment of weakness, we let him in the house.   We opened the door and he waltzed right in.  Coincidentally, I was working late that night.  I sent Michael to the pet store to buy a litter box, bowls, and some food.  During the time he was gone, the kitty slept - on my lap! - in my office while I worked.  It was the craziest thing...  he was immediately at home and comfortable.

Since he was a stray and an orphan cat, we are calling him Oliver- or Ollie for short.  My sister wondered if that was because he had a British accent, but I can say with confidence that his accent has not yet been determined.

Oliver is the friendliest cat I have ever met.  (Not exaggerating!  It's a little bit ridiculous.  He acts like a stalker sometimes)  Ollie enjoys being held, sitting on laps, purring, and rolling around.  He is very long and lean….. muscle-y and about 10 lbs.  The vet guesses he is about a year old…. not a kitten but his ears still look too big for his face.    He is very very cute and a schmoozer - he will not leave us alone for very long b/c he wants his face rubbed or wants to flop down next to us.  The photo above illustrates his behavior 95% of the day.

We were not planning on having a cat, but he found us so we will do our best to give him a nice home.

By the way... I was totally having a deja vu moment when a stray tabby cat showed up on the porch.  If only we had a basement where he could live before moving upstairs!