Ian the Elder

Entered the Family: October 1995

Adopted From: Connecticut Humane Society

Favorite Things: Looking out windows, hunting small rodents, 9 Lives canned food.

Quote: "We have an ideal relationship. I'm practically perfect in every way, and you've learned to appreciate that."




As the eldest of the family cats, Ian has a bit of an ego to contend with. He knows how brilliant he is, and has insisted, as it were, on telling his story in his own words. ~CS

I was the lucky one... the eldest child, as it were. You really don't honestly appreciate your pets until you've owned one as an adult... and when Chris's childhood cat-friends died within a year's span of each other, she decided that she didn't want to remain catless for long.

Of course, she also decided - since she was an adult, and making a decent enough salary - that she wanted an aristo-cat. A blueblood. A purebred. She'd always wanted one... and why not? Unlike many purebred dogs, created by judicious human manipulation of genes and breeds, most purebred cats were naturally-occurring products of creation - and it was on two of these that Mom was centering: the Maine Coon Cat, a huge fur feline with a heart as big as he is, and the elegant Siamese, main characters of Mom's favorite mystery series... "The Cat Who..." books by Lillian Jackson Braun. So she went to cat shows, and talked to breeders, and after careful consideration, decided that a Siamese was the only cat for her...

Little did she know the power of a conscience, or the felicities of fate!

Now, don't get me wrong... there is NOTHING wrong with supporting an honest, caring breeder, or filling your house with purebred critters, as long as you don't get your pets from those vile pet store cages. But Mom knew full well that the local Animal Shelter was full of kittens and adult kitties, too, all waiting for a new home... or certain death. She can't go into places like that easily... she always wants to bring home a dozen or more deserving friends!

She'd been trying to resist the call of the Shelter... but the day before she was scheduled to go visit a Siamese breeder and make a pick of the litter, something snapped, and she found herself barrelling towards the Quaker Hill Humane Society, determined to prove that there was no cat there who would capture her heart, which she'd decided to harden...

And that's where I came in. Ain't I just the cutest thing? The picture you see came later... Mom's two sisters catnapped me for a "Kitty's First Christmas" photo... but I knew from the second I set eyes on her that THIS was My Human. She wasn't looking at me, though. PROBLEM TIME! I was in a bank of cages marked "HOLD," since it was nearly Halloween, and the shelter wouldn't adopt out a black kitty at THAT time of year (and for good reason, too)!

I was in quite a state, let me tell you. My two sisters had been adopted days earlier, and I was left all alone... and lonely! The shelter folks had to cushion my cage, since I'd been ramming into the bars and walls, trying to get out... and who can blame me? Solitary confinement is something I wouldn't wish on a DOG!

Anyhow... I saw her come in, and I made up my mind. I let out an ear-piercing shriek, and stretched my little black arms as far out of the cage as I could. She noticed me then... and the next thing I knew, I was out of the cage and purring away. Rules said that I still couldn't adopt... but luck was on this black cat's side that day. A friend of Mom's from grade school happened to be one of the shelter higher-ups... and she personally vouched for my safety! And the rest, as they say, is hiss-tory!

Right now, I'm enjoying my place as Senior Cat of the household... in charge of early wake-ups (I'm getting really good at hooking my paw under Mom's chin and lifting it up), territory surveillance, and nocturnal window patrol. I miss my best buddy, Fox, something awful since he went over the Rainbow Bridge, but Mom's brought home a new addition to the family to keep me company. He's really not so bad, I suppose, now that he's outgrowing his kitten bounciness, and Mom says that the only thing better than having a magic black cat around the house... is having TWO!