Tortitude: It’s A Thing

Much like the rest of the world, in the spring of 2020, my husband (Matt) and I had all the time in the world, nowhere to go and not much to do except hunker down and do our best to just get through it. Despite all the horrible things happening in the world, we really enjoyed watching movies together, having game nights and going for long walks. Of course, there was doom scrolling. Lots and lots of doom scrolling…

We already had one cat, Sammy, who was an 11 year old tuxedo boi and very sure of his role in our lives. He was our one and only. He ruled the roost and took great pride in confidently strutting around like he owned the place. This was HIS turf. These were HIS humans. In Sammy’s mind, everything belonged to him.

During the many hours spent doom scrolling, I decided my social media timeline needed some cheering up. In addition to sarcastic memes, quizzes about “Which Golden Girl Fit my Personality” (fun fact- I’m a Sophia!) I started following a page that featured cats who needed homes in the area. Some were from homes, some were in shelters- but every one of them were absolutely adorable and looking for their Furrever Family. Complete with cute cat memes, featured kitties and random trivia on various breeds, this became a really amazing way to pass the time.

Matt and I had gone back and forth over the last year about getting another cat, but never really decided on anything. Occasionally we’d look at one and check out their information, but it just never worked out.

One super humid, disgustingly hot summer morning, I was scrolling when one post in particular caught my eye. There was a lady whose cat had a large litter of kittens, and she couldn’t afford to keep them all. I messaged her immediately and asked if we could come over and see them. By the time I heard back, there was only one left to be adopted, the others had all been spoken for. It was a dilute tortoiseshell female with huge, curious eyes. She was adorable and we decided instantly that we wanted her.

Two hours later we found ourselves meeting up with the owner, masked up and in a parking lot (you’d think we were exchanging something other than a cat!) We put her in a little cat carrier, and off we drove.

It took no time at all to recognize what a sweet and playful little personality she had! Every time I started to pet her, she’d start purring and wrap her teeny paws around my arm. We loved her right away, though it took Sammy far longer to learn to love his little feline sister (and by love of course, I mean merely tolerate). We had researched the right ways to slowly introduce them to each other and tried everything, but he was extremely upset with us.

The first time he saw her, he instantly went up to the clear partition and started hissing and growling at her, letting her know exactly how everything was. And yet, my fierce little lady showed her spicy side when she immediately hissed right back at this tuxedo cat who was easily three times her size. She was NOT going to be pushed around.

It took them a long time to learn to tolerate each other. I think for the first month we couldn’t keep them in the same room together. Eventually though, little by little it seems like they could eventually become friends... especially when it seems like they're plotting something.

We’ve had her for about 9 months now and she continues to amuse me every single day. This cat has no qualms about anything at all. Nothing seems to scare her and she really is the most curious, mischievous little creature I’ve ever known. Whether she’s literally trying to scale the walls, grooming her “baby”(which is an old stuffed animal), chasing her feline brother around the house or nesting against her humans, life with this sweet and spicy little lady is never dull.