Things that make you go purr.

A few years ago, I volunteered at the SF/SPCA as a cat socializer. I spent every Saturday for 4 months playing with kitties: big cats, small cats, furry cats, hairless cats, timid cats, angry cats, and cats that went purrrrrrr. There came the time, though, when I decided to get a cat of my own, and Todd reluctantly gave in. My dad swore by his Maine Coon (see right), who is 25 lbs, bright orange like Garfield, and supposedly didn't shed. So when I found a timid little grey furball with huge green eyes that was part Maine Coon in a room with Taz, the strung-out short-haired tabby who tried to claw up my pants leg, I knew I had found my kitten. It was time for me to save this kitty name Alphie from the terrors of the Tazmanian devil (Cue Superman theme).

Alphie hid under the bed for 3 days straight and had to be coaxed to eat baby food for a week before he'd try anything else... But once he started eating regular cat food, it was like we had a whole different animal in our apartment. He began to talk. A lot. And shed. A lot. Where did our kitty go, and why is this little lion so playful?

Alphie at age... 5?

Lessons learned...
Maine Coon mixes:

• Shed like there's no tomorrow.
• Anxiously await your arrival home, then yell at you for being 3 minutes late.
• Could host their own talk show. Topics to include: why your wardrobe is sooo bad ("I sleep in your closet all day because it's so dark. Add some color, woman!").
• Think the backyard birds look tasty.
• Follow you around like a shadow, but get upset when you step on them by accident.
  
• Use their paws like hands. Good Patty Cake partners.
• Wake you up via licking and head-butting at 5AM. and 6AM. and 6:13AM. and 6:29AM...
• Bestow presents of large clumps of fur when happy, excited, anxious, and scared.
• Enjoy wheat thins, brie, sweet potatoes, vanilla Tofutti and any green plants except special kitty grass.