In the beginning of 1998 I was living with my friend (Lynne), her two children (Emma and Catina), her new boyfriend (Chuck), her four cats (Ronnie, Precious, Fuzzball and Aurora), her two dogs (Sassy and Bandit), And Chuck's two dogs (Little Bear and Boomer)
I was still not recovered from a relationship gone bad and I decided to become a crazy old cat lady. To do that I would need to get a cat of my own.
I wanted a neutered male because of their reputation for affection. I wanted an adult because his personality would already be set (and I would know what I was in for). And I wanted to get him from a shelter (Project P.A.W. in Binghamton, New York) because those are the ones that need us most.
I went to make my choice February 2nd. The kennel was closed, only the gift shop was open. But they had so many cats they were keeping them in the gift shop as well. I walked along the aisles looking for the bigest male cat they had.
Kip attracted my attention. He was not any bigger than the others, but niether was he small. His head was so big for his body that I had hope he would continue to grow. He is a Domestic American Long hair and has seven toes on each of his front paws. Just the normal five on his hind paws. I once had a black and white cat, named Hexa, with six toes on each foot. Kip's coloring is similar to Perzy, the Persian cat we had as children.
One of the attendants let him out of his cage and he climbed my shoulder and bit my ear. That settled it I was his and he was mine.
Unfortunately my grandmother had died that weekend. I had to go to her funeral and could not take Kip home untill I returned. She loved cats too. One of the few mementos I took to remember her by was a book on cats.
When I returned Kip had developed an eye infection and could not leave for an other week. The eye infection turned out to be a side affect of a birth defect. He still has trouble with his left eye.
I finally took him home on Valentines day Feb 14, 1998.
He has a good personality and a fine disposition. He is friendly, a gracious host, good with children. He likes to groom our guests. And will play with children and dogs.
In June of 1998 I had a precipituous change of residence. I moved out of Lynne's houshold and in with my friend Joseph. Joseph had been planning to get a kitten of his own in his new apartment so we soon had M'Bawr.
