We grew our own kitty in the backyard. (I'm not sure Murderbiscuit's momcat actually gave birth in our backyard, but she moved them there at some point; by the time that Tim found them in our yard, the kittens' eyes were open and they were wandering around.)

Kitty stories! When I lost my beloved Josie, I decided to adopt another quickly so we went to the pound and found a sickly little black kitty girl that we adopted (momo). Not 2 weeks later, a teeny gray baby boy appeared on our street (Casper). So, yes - kitties do generally find you when you need them.

I love the gotcha stories. I may be impatient about our next gotcha but I believe it will happen.

kitties do generally find you when you need them.

Murderbiscuit showed up about 6 or 7 weeks after we put Kato to sleep, and about 7 or 8 weeks before we put Slinky to sleep. He drove me absolutely batshit crazy that first year, and there were a LOT of times I genuinely regretted adopting him, but he was a godsend to Tim, who had had Kato and Slinky basically their whole lives, so their departures were brutal for him (super hard for me, too, obviously). Having wee Murderbiscuit during that period made Tim SO happy. He still adores the kitty way more than that demonic scapegrace deserves. (Yes, I love the kitty, too. But he still needs to chill the fuck out by an order of magnitude.)

>The sibling of Mulder & Scully may be adopted by my sister

Anyone else hoping this one is named Skinner? Or Krychek?

CSM (Catnip Smoking Man)

"Skinner" is cracking me up because I can't help but here it in Superintendent Chalmer's voice (which would o doubtbe appropriate at times)

I love stories of cats picking their human.

I have a great one from the shelter where I volunteer. Fifa was a tan tabby who had been an office cat (found during the World Cup, which is how she got her name). Her office closed during the Great Recession (through no fault of her own), and she ended up at our shelter.

But Fifa wasn't used to being around other cats. And the shelter has a fairly open floor plan, which meant she was sharing a large room with a number of other cats. Before long, Fifa was transferred to the Senior Room, which was the name for the room reserved for cats that needed a quieter environment. Even so, Fifa developed a bad case of fear aggression. When humans were around, she stayed at the top of her cat tower. If a human tried to pet her, she'd hiss and swat. After a year or so of working with Fifa, I got to the point where she would tolerate my proximity without hissing.

One day, an elderly woman visited the shelter. She was looking for a quite older tabby (7 years or older) -- a cat that would curl up beside her on the sofa while she knitted, watched TV, or the like.

(You know where this is going, don't you?)

We introduced the women to the cats at the shelter, and she seemed fond of several. Then we got to Fifa. Fifa took one look at the women, jumped off the cat tower, and started rubbing up against the woman's ankles.

Fifa was about 5 -- a little younger than the woman had in mind. But Fifa went home with her.

Ugh. Today was the first day back after spring break, but I was up all night with some kind of stomach bug, and there was just no way I'd be able to teach in the morning (I might have been able to handle it in the afternoon), so I called in sick, and now I'm having an anxiety attack about calling in sick too often and losing my job.

That sucks, Hil.