When the cat chooses you

Hi everyone! I asked my husband to write a blog about something people have asked about. Our cats!! I thought it was fair that he'd write this one since our first cat, Hokke, DID choose him. Enjoy!

Cats first began to adopt humans around 10,000 years ago. As people began to establish permanent agricultural settlements, cats showed up to hunt the rodents attracted to the crops. I sometimes think about what those first human-cat interactions must have been like. Who was the first human to fall for the belly-rub trap? How long was it before people learned of the futility of trying to shift a cat from your lap?

The ancient Egyptian’s love of cats is pretty well-known, theirs was one of the most successful and long-lasting civilizations in all of human history. I’m not saying there’s a direct correlation between greatness and a love of cats. I’m just heavily implying it.

So a cat choosing a human is a powerful thing, honed over the course of thousands of years. It’s a little over six years to the day we were first chosen by our cat Hokke for adoption. We’d recently arrived in Kumamoto and had just agreed to give a home to a newborn kitten when he was ready. It wasn’t the easiest time as the expense of moving had left us flat broke and a few weeks away from financial security. We were largely surviving off of kimchi, rice, and eggs.

We visited the local cat cafe to relieve the stress of the move and financial woes, and because we were excited about our new kitten and wanted to scratch that feline itch. So we really weren’t in the market for another cat when we first arrived there. We were only allowed to have one cat in our new apartment.

Hokke thought otherwise.

He was about ten months old when we met him, still growing into the little bear he is today. Like other Japanese Bobtails, his tail is shaped like a little pom-pom. Largely blind in one eye and with sinus troubles, he stole our hearts almost immediately by climbing into my lap and falling asleep. We had been chosen.

The adoption process was fairly onerous, he was a favorite of the cafe staff and they were keen to make sure he went to a good home. We thought he was a quiet little cat until the taxi ride home and learned otherwise. We only had him a few days before our second cat Momo was ready to come to us. They soon became the best of friends.

Those early weeks in Kumamoto were difficult in many ways but I remember them fondly. I soon landed a good job and we were quickly back on our feet moneywise. All the stress and uncertainty seemed to vanish whenever Hokke climbed onto my lap and started to purr. I like to think he could sense we needed him when we showed up to the cafe that day. He helped to make a tough time a happy one.

A few years later we would be chosen again.

Written by Husband Sol