My new friend

Regular readers may recall that a few months ago I made a post in memory of my cat Kira, who died last summer. I adopted a new cat in March, but haven’t gotten around to writing about it until now. Luckily, there’s a shelter quite close to my house, so I didn’t have far to go.

Her name, given by her previous owners, is Midnight. She’s a small black domestic short hair about 6 1/2 years old. I actually first noticed Midnight in precisely the way I first noticed Kira- I walked past her and she brushed her face against my hand through the bars. That piqued my interest, so I stopped and we watched each other for a while. The woman in charge of the cats brought us both into a little side room to see how we got along. She took to me immediately, and I decided to adopt her.

She’s adjusted to her new home quite well. She and my other cat, Toshi, quickly got used to reach other and get along wonderfully. She has several spots by windows that she likes, and she loves sitting in my lap (or occasionally climbing onto my shoulder) when I’m reading, playing games, or using the computer. When she sees me, she makes a sort of squeaking/chirping sound and runs over to rub her head against me. She likes to sleep in my bed at night, either on top of me or on a little pillow I keep in the bed next to my own.

A staggering number of animals are destroyed or left to run feral every year for lack of decent homes. Despite being incredibly friendly, Midnight had fairly poor prospects for adoption: Black cats are pretty consistently the kind least desired by the public, and at 6 1/2 years of age Midnight is also much older than what most prospective pet owners want. If you’re interested in a pet, please consider getting one from a shelter, and please don’t rule out the possibility of getting an adult. There are a lot of animals like Midnight that would love to have a home.