Pets have always been an important part of my life. They make me happy, and have always been something I look forward to coming home to each and every day. No matter how bad the day went, a pet can quickly make you forget all about it. J and I have several…cats, dogs, and fish. So, I thought I’d spend a few posts introducing the other parts of our family that make up our lil household.
Bon Jour is the lucky first to be introduced. He’s a mysterious kitty that I acquired from a coworker back in 2000. She (the coworker) met a man on the internet, married him, and moved off to England. With no one to take her two full grown aging cats, I came into work one day and found her crying. No one wanted both of them, and no animal shelter or pet place could guarantee they wouldn’t be split up. She wanted them to stay together, and knew Bon Jour would probably not survive being quarantined to go overseas. Having never met this odd cat, I felt sorry for her and agreed to take both of them from her and keep them together.
I quickly learned WHY no one wanted both of them. Bon Jour was a finicky cat who would not let anyone but her touch him. If someone knocked on her door, he ran and hid under her bed. Most people didn’t even know she had two cats. On the day I went to pick them up, I took Avery (the other cat who I will talk about next) home and had to come back later to get Bon Jour. She could not coax him out from under the sink. So, I left her alone with him. She borrowed a neighbor’s crate (which was for a dalmatian) and called me several hours later when Bon Jour was ready to go. After fighting to get the crate in my car and into my home, I pushed it up against my bed and opened the door. Bon Jour quickly ran out and under my bed, and that’s where he stayed for about a month.
I put food on one side and a litter box on the other, and never saw him until one night when I was sitting at the computer. Bon Jour, desperate for human contact, ventured out and took one look at me. He jumped up on the desk with caution, but allowed me to gently stroke his neck. We’ve been best friends ever since.
Now, Bon Jour, being a French kitty still had quite a bit of attitude, and still had all his claws. He still ran when company came over, but I had a roommate that Bon Jour had to become accustomed to. When another friend moved in for a few months, Bon Jour quickly adapted to being around men and being around more than one person. His kitty shell was quickly broken, and although today he is still a bit timid, like all cats he goes off and does his own thing. But he will come out and visit strangers now at least when we have company, taking his time to sniff them and rub on their feet and allow them to touch him. That’s something he never did when my coworker friend owned him.
Bon Jour loves to sit at my feet and stretch up over my chair and lick my wrist while I’m typing, as he is doing right now. He wants my attention and usually wants in my lap. He loves to watch birds in the window sill, but panics if he ventures outside onto the deck. So, he never gets out much. His front claws were removed a few years ago in order to bring peace to the furniture. He likes to eat pizza crust, Doritos chips, and Wendy’s French fries, and KFC chicken nibblies, all in very small portions of course. Don’t forget tuna can juice, and he will beg for a saucer of milk if you are standing in the kitchen.
To be such a fierce looking cat, supposedly a Maine coon, he has the saddest squeak for a meow, but he is a very loving cat that at the end of each day comes running to lay next to me on the bed when I go to sleep. He’s my Bo Bo kitty!
In my Part 2 post, you’ll meet Avery. He is Bon Jour’s brother, and was an entirely different cat than Bon Jour was when we first met.
