Baxter The Cat

Baxter's Story

I recently found myself wanting (needing) a kitty again after well over a decade, having not having my own cat for well over a decade. I started hitting up Petfinder to look through what the wider Columbus area had to offer. I bookmarked about 20, whittled it down to three, and finally decided to put an application in to see two adult black cats, five or younger, both special-needs.

I have had my fill over the last 20 years when it comes to kittens (IYKYK). I didn't mind young adults, but I really wanted some cats that had grown out of (most) of some of the worst kitten behavior. In-fact, I was also looking at other hard-to-adopt cats such as seniors, bonded pairs, black cats, and FIV+ cats. For my return to cat daddyhood, I wanted to be very open. My main requirements were that the potential cat should be friendly and good with other cats. I find that if you have those two you'll typically find a lovebug just waiting for attention.

As a quick aside for FIV, you can read more about it here. The virus is unique to cats-only and can't be transmitted to people. When I adopted Baxter though, I fully understood that there could be a day (hopefully far-far-off) where he's going to need a lot of vet visits and potentially end-of-life care. I am extremely honored to give him the most enriching life I can until he's no longer with us. I'll explain why in a bit.

As it turns out, one of the kitties I was looking to adopt wasn't quite ready to be adopted. But, I still got to meet Baxter. It was obvious he was very attached to his foster mom (and her can of food), but he wasn't mean or avoiding me. He'd let me pet him, hold him for a moment. I trusted his foster mom that he was truly a friendly kitty that just needed time to adjust to me. I signed the paperwork and paid the fee. Baxter is now my fur-child, and he's going to be a very spoiled kitty. For those curious, I went through Buckey Pet Partners.

He's about three and solid black (except his lonely stars of white that show up every so often in his coat). It's clear he's still growing back hair from a vet visit. (Likely from at least a neuter, gauging from the state of his undercarriage.) He's got pale green eyes that sometimes go to emeralds. He's about average sized for a housecat, but I have a feeling he's not quite done growing yet. (Something about the paws tell me he's going to get a bit bigger.)

Outside of being a bit fussy about getting into the carrier and being lugged-around, Baxter didn't end up being a pain in the ass to get home. (He didn't freak out or get sick. Win!) It was a bit of a long drive (after a can of food before that) so I wanted to get him out of his carrier so he could get water and/or potty if he needed to.

I discovered that Baxter is one of those cats who won't be satisfied until he's explored every nook he can get to, but once he's explored an area he generally is done with it. (With the exception of the upper-cabinets, where I keep his food/treats.)

Especially with the loud kitchen cabinets, I ended up just opening all of them so he could see/sniff what was inside. Especially for his first day, I wanted to give him as much free roam as we were both comfortable with. We're already working on boundaries on where I am and am not comfortable with him being. (And he's been a good boy, except for hunting for food.)

He found his litter enclosure/box, water fountain, dry food, and all of the toys. He also found and explored a hidey-ring that I found on Amazon. Generally, I've found he's not too interested in the toys or even the hidey-ring I got. (Yet.) He's also not interested in really using any furniture to his benefit. I'm willing to bet he hasn't had a solid opportunity to be a house cat until now.

We had short bursts of interactions before he'd go back to exploring. It wasn't too long before he heard the birds outside of my second-story window. I can imagine, especially come Spring, that's going to be his favorite spot. I'm already planning on getting a small table that can handle a fluffy cat bed.