Puffy – the Cat Who Chose Me

By Kevin Roche

These are a couple of pictures of my cat who I adopted from my local animal shelter; the Little Shelter, Huntington NY, which is a no-kill animal shelter.

Rescue Maine Coon Puffy
Rescue Maine Coon “Puffy”

I adopted him as a kitten in 1996. He is a Maine Coon cat. It all began when I went to the animal shelter to look for a new friend. I asked one of the volunteers there if I could check out the cats. She said: “Sure go in, look around and take your time”.

So I walked into the cattery where there were about 200 other cats, some were roaming free, some were perched on jungle gyms and some were caged. I walked around for about 20 minutes checking out all the cats and as I was walking past one of the caged cats he reached through his cage and grabbed the sleeve of my jacket.

I turned around to see what my jacket was hooked on and saw a young cat/kitten with his paw extended out of his cage with his paw hooked onto my jacket. When I looked at him he meowed at me with the cutest baby meow.

That was when I had realized I found a new friend. So I filled out the application, paid the $40 adoption fee and took him home with me. I named him “Puffy”.

At first he seemed content in his new home but after about 3 days I noticed that he wasn’t eating. So I called the shelter and they told me to bring him back so they could give him a check-up. So I brought Puffy back but they couldn’t find anything obviously wrong with him and told me to leave him there overnight so they could give him some I.V. fluids and observe him.

The next day I went back to pick him up and the volunteer at the shelter told me that he was doing good and healthy. She then suggested that Puffy might feel better if he had a friend and informed me that 2 of his litter-mates were in the same shelter. So I asked to see his 2 litter-mates.

Tiger and Puffy
Tiger and Puffy

Both of the litter-mates were handsome Maine Coons. My rental agreement, at that time, only allowed me a maximum of 2 cats so I had the tough choice of which one to take home. I chose a orange and brown tabby. So I took him home with me and Puffy.

I named the new kitten “Tiger”. By the end of the day Puffy was eating and acting normal again so it finally dawned on me that Puffy missed his brother!!

For the following 15 years they were inseparable. Both were medium size Maine Coons. Both wonderful cats. On august 23rd 2011 Tiger passed away. Again Puffy began grieving the loss of his brother, Tiger.

Puffy ate very little for the following 2 weeks and then began to come around again. Puffy is still alive and well with the exception of 2 hematomas that developed (one on each ear). One ear, the right side, was operable and was taken care of but the left ear was not as I was advised by the vet.

Puffy is still able to hear very good and even still likes to play. He is a great lap cat and alarm clock. If I sleep too late, he will wake me up by sitting on my chest and will lick my eyelids until I wake up. I hope anybody who reads this will realize what amazing friends cats can be

Kevin Roche

12 thoughts on “Puffy – the Cat Who Chose Me”

  1. The author of the best comment will receive an Amazon gift of their choice at Christmas! Please comment as they can add to the article and pass on your valuable experience.
  2. Wow thanks for sharing Kevin. I called my cat Red ‘Puffpuff’ when he got older and more puffy. He wasn’t a Maine Coon but he was similar in many ways. It’s terribly sad to lose a cat. It would seem it was not that long ago that Tiger died. I’m sure it is/was hard on you both. What a wonderful companion you have in Puffy. You love of cats really shows. I wish you and Puffy lots more time together. What a beautiful cat. Tiger too.

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