Baby Aymeric is a baby no more. Since he was a stray we picked up from a shelter, we don’t know the exact day of his nativity. We worked our way back from his approximate age, made an estimate, and arbitrarily chose 4 July as the date. “Easy to remember” was a major consideration in the decision.
This means that today, we celebrate his first birthday and his passage into what is ostensibly maturity although you’d never know it if you spent any time with him. He will probably always be The Baby well into his dotage. It’s those eyes. Well, the eyes and the fact that he acts like an idiot half the time and a perfect angel the rest.
Here is the photograph that broke my heart:
It’s the photo the shelter put on its adoption website. That is one scared kitten. I wasn’t looking to adopt but I couldn’t forget the look on his face and I kept the adoption site up on my desktop for a couple of weeks. I was starting to get worried that he might be deemed unadoptable and I imagined the worse.
Nicole wasn’t having it and drove me there to meet him. He was still there, the only cat in the building, in a stainless steel cage with just a tiny blanket. Dogs were constantly parking. They put us in the meeting room right next to all the dog cages. It got even louder in there and Panther (as they called him) curled up behind my back to shelter himself. My kitten, right from the start.
I couldn’t take him home immediately; he still need shots and neutering. It was a long couple of days until we could bring him home. Because he was so small and had obviously been feral at some point, we delayed introducing him to Ramza and Red Velvet. He lived in my office, hiding behind or underneath whatever would make him comfortable.
Day 1. You can see the little pet taxi carrier in the foreground there.
That was the first time I ever got to pet him. Nicole, the paragon of patience that she is, couldn’t wait to introduce him to Ramza. In fairness, Ramza was showing tremendous interest and couldn’t be budged from outside my office door.
The first meeting was a little tense, but they quickly grew close. Ramza took the mantle of “big brother” and ran with it. Red Velvet, being Red Velvet, wanted nothing to do with either of them. Fortunately, the boys were inseparable and didn’t really want to mess with Red Velvet either.
All of those photos are from Aymeric’s first month with us. They warmed up to each other pretty quickly. And, it wasn’t long before he was sleeping on me as well.
Nicole, in the most Nicole way possible, did everything she could to make the kitten feel welcome. Check out this gym she made for him. Oh, and we bought that blanket because we thought it would look good with his color. We were right.
He celebrated his first Christmas with us in typical Aymeric style. He showed little interest in the presents and was utterly enthralled by the tree:
As luck would have it, his mostest favoritest thing is climbing into my arms and rumbling really loud (as opposed to his brother, who likes to jump onto my back when I’m upright which is unpleasant from my point of view).
My little kitten isn’t a kitten anymore. He’s still a baby, though. He’s an incredibly loving friend who brings me more comfort than I can express. I had no idea what I was getting into when I brought him home, but I couldn’t have asked for a sweeter kitty. I hope he feels safe, comfortable, and free from want. He deserves the best life and I’m committed to doing the best I can to give it to him.
To be continued…
-RK