Introducing Mocha

Meet Mocha, the kitty that decided she wanted Terry and me as her forever family. After Nikki died, we knew we wanted a new cat but not right away. When we began feeling something was missing in our family, we realized we needed a cat.

I spent time on weekends on local no-kill shelter web sites looking for a calico or tortiseshell. I found several, so Terry and I began making the rounds. We found a couple of strays that had been surrendered, but none came to us, an important trait. I wanted a cat to pick us as much as I wanted to point to one in a cage and say, "I'll take that one, please. Wrap her up."

Terry and I knew we wanted a spade female. I don't trust male cats not to mark their territories with spray, neutered or not. A shelter in Roanoke had a bright calico kitten and another calico cat. We went in with high hopes, only to be hit with a horrible smell. I've never been in a shelter that smelled so bad. Still, we looked at the cat first. Five years old, but the drawback was coming with a black litter mate. I want two cats, but not both older cats. The kitten was in surgery and we couldn't see her.

A week ago we went to the shelter in Franklin County on the other side of the lake. The kitten room was full of action, with black and orange kitties bouncing off the walls. I howled at their antics. Then we went into the adult room. Orange tabbies. Gray tabbies. Long and short hair cats. We sat down and watched to see if any would approach. A tan tabby wandered over and jumped on the bench. She put her head in Terry's hand. Love at first sight.

So, one week ago Mocha came home. In my next post, look for the naming challenge we faced.