Meet Max

The past few years, I’ve had constant dreams about a silver male tabby named “Max” (bc I’m a crazy cat person, I dream about cats, so sue me). Over and over again, “Max” would show up in my dreams, to the point where I became obsessed with finding a real-life “Max” to add to our family. When we contemplated moving, the search for Max was put on hold until some time in the future, when we would have our own house, and when we could have as many pets as we wanted.

Since moving to the East Coast, and adjusting to life out here, I haven’t thought much of “Max” — we had our hands full with Sabine and Pandora. After Sabine passed away, I thought I’d never want another kitty again.

Last Saturday, feeling lonely and sad, I decided to walk through the nearby Petsmart for no real reason but to be around other animals, and aimlessly window shop. I had spent so much time at this particular store in the days leading up to Sabine’s passing, that it felt comforting to just be there, walking around.

Tucked away in the back corner of the store, I caught sight of a few cages with cats in them. A local shelter was sponsoring a pet adoption fair, and had brought about 10 cats with them. Curious, I walked to the cages, and poked around. The final cage I poked my finger into, was the cage of a silver tabby – domestic short hair/ocicat breed. His name was Mac.

When I put my finger in the cage, “Mac” pressed his head against my hand. The lady manning the booth asked if I wanted to hold him, I said “sure, why not.” When I picked him up, he immediately purred…and then, after petting him for a couple of minutes, he fell asleep in my arms, even amidst all the chaos of the pet store. I gently lifted him to put him back in his cage, but once back in his cage, he turned, stared at me, and pawed at my arm. Dammit, Mac.

I contemplated adopting him. I kept telling myself it was too soon, that he wouldn’t make the sadness go away, that it was unfair to him, that someone else would adopt him and love him. But he was such an awesome cat, I couldn’t stop thinking about him. I stared and played with him for a long time, until a crowd of people surrounded me, including one creepy dude who was oogling him like crazy. It was clear he had his eyes set on Mac. It was also clear I wasn’t going to let Mac be adopted by a creepy dude. I asked for the papers, and officially adopted “Mac.”

“Mac turned up on a doorstep one day out of the blue and decided that he wanted to stay for a bit. This little guy is a lover! He loves kisses on the face, and on the hands for as long as you stay where he can get to you. He is also quite the comedian, as he does enjoy slinging dirt from time to time when he can sneak into the plants. All is fun and games for this beautiful guy oh, did we mention that he loves water? Who knows where that will lead. We think you will be charmed by Mac” — from his petfinder.com ad that I found after adopting him. 

We have since renamed him “Max,” like the cat I kept dreaming about over and over the past few years. I never thought I’d want another kitty, not like this, not so soon after losing my sweet
Sabine, but I’m really glad we found each other. He’s a sweet little love bug, and while I know he will never ‘replace’ Sabine, or make the sadness I feel for her loss go away, he has been a great comfort. Sometimes you find love when you least expect it.