Last week, I told you guys the story of how I was a cat hater as a teenager and later on became a cat lover in university.

The idea of having a cat never left my mind. But it wasn’t until a year and a half after I became a cat lover that I finally adopted my first cat – Larmlarm.

The year I graduated, my parents got divorced, my father remarried, his new wife moved into the house, my sister and I had to move out, I missed having my friends in the dorm around me all the time, etc. On top of that, I wasn’t happy with my boyfriend and my job (there is actually a ridiculous story about how I got a job I didn’t like but couldn’t quit, and you can read about that or any other non-cat-related stuff here). I started to have depression. I went to see a psychiatrist and took tablets but nothing changed. Considering the drastic changes happening in my life at that point, it might not have been the best time to adopt a cat. But hey, most of the good stuff in the world happens by accident, right? Plus, as I soon found out, cats are the best nurses in the world!

So my sister did some research online to find out where the closest shelter was and what we had to prepare to become a ‘cat parent’. I was too ill to do anything, so my sister did all of that.

Fortunately, there was a shelter not far from where we lived, so I could manage to go there regardless of my illness. And strangely enough, the visit to the shelter gave me a boost of energy that I didn’t have for a long time! ‘It’s so exciting to see all these cats! I get to finally have MY OWN CAT!!!!’

We went to the shelter and started looking at all the cats. We wanted a grey kitten. Of course we didn’t know a grey cat is very difficult to come by. So we started browsing and browsing, saying hi to all the cats. All of them seem to be either sleeping, eating or hiding at the back of the cage because they were too scared. Then among all these cats, was this exceptionally brave kitten who stood right at the front of the cage and started talking at my sister. ‘Oh hello you!’  – we started smiling. My sister stretched her finger out to let the kitten smell it. He backed off a little bit, not sure what to do next, thought about it for a second, then approached the finger. But he didn’t smell it, he started rubbing his head on her finger!

‘Haaaaa! Look look look! He trusts me!’

I thought about it for a second, ‘oh well….maybe he is the one then.’

‘Oh no no no, not so fast! I read on the internet that we are supposed to come back a few times to make sure he is not ill or mean or anything’.

So we spoke to the Adoption Assistant and told her we were interested in the kitten but we would come back the weekend after to check on him again.

We were so excited about the kitten, my sister started shopping for all the necessities – food bowls, litter trays, scratching post, toys, etc. I was still too ill to do anything.

The weekend after, we went back to officially sign the adoption paper. He had grown up so much and we loved him very much already!

Look at him! Don’t you think he is a cutie?

He looked so innocent. Except he wasn’t.

In fact, if you look at the last photo carefully, you will see he is plotting something…

Once we got the adoption papers signed, the Adoption Assistant took us to Larmlarm to officially take him home. When we opened the cage to let him out to the cat carrier he let out a tiny tiny ‘miaow…’ The Adoption Assistant commented, ‘oh his voice is tiny! How I wish my cats had such a tiny voice, it would make my life so much easier. You guys are so lucky to have such a quiet cat!’ At this very moment, the Cleaning Lady came over and saw that we were taking Larmlarm home. She asked, ‘Is he going?’ We all smiled (including the Adoption Assistant) and nodded. The Cleaning Lady turned around and let out a ‘YES!!!’ between her teeth. We all looked at each other and raised our eyebrows wondering ‘What the hell is wrong with this woman?’

Later on that night, we figured out why the Cleaning Lady did that.

And we learned it the hard way….

(to be continued….How I became a cat sitter Part 3 – OMG! My cat is evil! is here)