IT people are quirky. I worked with IT people and actuaries and it’s a tossup as to which profession is quirkier. This post is about an IT techie, his wife and their cats.
There was a small IT team at work and all of them were animal lovers. In fact, they were all cat lovers. That would normally make me say really nice things about them but they were still quirky!
One of them, let’s call him Rob because that’s his real name, was a smoker. Smokers, by their nature, know more about what’s going on outside the building than non-smokers because they spend more time there. Rob made friends with a stray cat hanging around the trash area. It didn’t take long before Lucy found a home with Rob and his wife, the Queen Bee (yep, that’s what her calls her). I think Lucy was there about a week before presenting them with a litter of four kittens. From the day they were born, I was cajoled, threatened, and then finally ordered to adopt one of the offspring.
Baby Max
I was willing. It was 2006 and I was short a cat. One of my older cats had died earlier in the year. In our house the number of cats I have always equals the number of guitars the beloved husband has. That is the equilibrium that works for us. Max was supposed to come to stay after he was eight weeks old.
Rob’s household is a little crazy. They already had three or four other cats, hence the pressure for me to adopt. They are really cat people in the truest sense of the word. Any cat that wanders in their yard is welcomed, named and fed. I should have known this would not go well.
One Saturday, Max came to stay. He came with both of his human parents who scoped out the place. They brought toys, food, blankies, you name it, and they brought it. I already had everything a cat could possibly want. It didn’t matter. After a while they left, reluctantly. I actually thought everyone might move in and I wasn’t sure how to break that to the beloved husband.
Max was having a great time with Mollie and Jake, my other cats. He was young so there were no issues. I don’t think he missed his old family because he was too busy exploring. However, I got hourly emails asking how he was doing. Fine, he’s fine.
The next morning I got a strange email again asking how Max was doing but I could actually feel the sadness. I think my monitor had tears on it. It seems that mama cat Lucy was missing her kitten, brother Spot had no one to bully (in a good way) and worst of all, Queen Bee was beside herself sobbing. Rob did the only thing he could do to save his family; he drove to my house and reclaimed Max. Of course, I worked to make him feel badly. I saw this as a great opportunity.
All’s well that ends well. I was still one cat short and Hazel came to join our family. She came from a shelter so I knew no one was going to take her back. I also have a life-long IT techie that doesn’t charge. All for 24 hours of pet care!
- Hazel
Read Hazel’s story here.
Views and Mews by Coffee Kat 
Thanks for sharing this story and thank you for adopting one anyway from a shelter! It’s so crazy b/c I started caring for a stray female who I didn’t know was pregnant. Long story short, she came in from the cold snow storm and had kittens in my apartment! I found homes for them all including her. Someone adopted the “momma cat” and the kitten that looked just like her and named the mom Hazel! I plan to write about this in the near future. Cheers!
LikeLike
Cute story. Only just read it today. I love cats too. Hope Hazel is doing well. I love that name. Since my dad doesn’t believe pets belong in apartments we have never had a pet growing up and even now , we don’t. I named a friend’s dog ‘ Hazel’ . But, it does so suit a cat very much.
LikeLike
It is tougher to have pets in an apartment although many people do. Hazel is doing well. She is a laid back cat and does not make any demands. She lets Jake do that for all of them.
LikeLike
Loved your story. Sorry that Max didn’t get to stay, but pleased with the good news about Hazel being welcomed into a loving home. When I was a reporter, I did a story about a man who fed a feral cat community. His love for these animals was an intriguing story – as is yours.
LikeLike
Some people think all cats or dogs or anything are alike. They are not. They have very different personalities and temperaments. Each one has a history and a story much like people.
LikeLike
Great story, thanks MJ
LikeLike
I think Hazel is beautiful! But then I think all cats are beautiful–some not as much and some more than–but all beautiful.
LikeLike
Hazel is a lot prettier than she was as a kitten. Her head and body were out of balance and she kept one eye kind of half shut. It must have been a growth spurt. Other than being ever so slightly overweight now, she is porportional and a cutie!
LikeLike
this was great … although I’m sure Max would have had a lovely life in your home, I guess Mollie was the intended recipient of your affections … I especially loved the “I think my monitor had tears on it”. really enjoyable story … thanks
LikeLike
Perhaps I enjoyed the story even more because I spent the day with IT at my workplace. The “guys” who assisted me with what turned into an all-day computer issue definitely march to a drum I don’t hear! Yet I suspect, after reading your lovely story, that perhaps I didn’t see the softies in the light I could have! Ha! Debra
LikeLike
I have a friend who gave away a stray cat that she had nursed back to health. She worried for a year. Then she went to visit and her former cat had turned into a princess in charge of the castle. She stopped worrying.
LikeLike
Another happy ending! I found a home for a stray cat I had for 48 hours and 4 years later I still wonder how he’s doing.
LikeLike
We love Hazel! (I’m sure she’s relieved to be marked “non-returnable”). Great story – funny and sweet.
LikeLike
Looks like it was a happy ending for everyone. I’m sure Hazel is very appreciative that they took Max back.
LikeLike
Yes, she is. I was going to get another male since Mollie is the alpha female but Mollie is really a benevolent dictator and Hazel is very laid back so it all works.
LikeLike