Welcome Home, Harvey!

Her Perspective

Meet Harvey! He’s 4 months old and the sweetest kitten I’ve ever met.

Just over two years ago my first and only cat, Hoover, passed away. She was a wonderful animal and Dennis held me while I bawled like a baby on the day that she died. Dennis didn’t grow up with pets, except for a turtle he had for a short time. He liked Hoover, and my Dad’s dog, Buddy Holly, but he has never felt the need to be a pet owner.

I, on the other hand, have had pets most of my life. There was Snowflake the hamster, Bandit the rabbit, Rosie the cockatiel, K.D. the St. Bernard, and Hoover the cat, to name just a few. My parents have had a number of dogs and cats since I moved out, too. I’ve always had animals in my life and the past two years without has felt strange.

A few months ago Dennis finally decided he was ready to give it a try. He told me I could have a puppy or a kitten (but definitely not both!). We decided a kitten would be a good first pet, since dogs require a lot more attention. We also decided that we would wait until we were moved into the new apartment to adopt our new family member.

Interestingly, the new tenants of our old apartment have a friend who fosters kittens for the Washington Humane Society and they put us in touch with her. Amy is a wonderful woman who has a revolving door of foster kittens that she let us meet. We instantly fell in love with a little black and white cat that they called Mu Shu. Mu Shu is very chill, intelligent, likes to cuddle, and chases bugs. He was a perfect fit.

Dennis and I adopted Mu Shu and brought him home yesterday. We changed his name to Harvey and he has been adjusting well to his new home. I’ll stop here and let Dennis go into the details of trying to find the perfect name (definitely Harvey) and all of Harvey’s antics since moving in with us.

I am so happy to have an animal in the house again. He is so dang cute!

–Emily

His Perspective

So I’m told that there’s a memo that says that, once engaged, I no longer need to go to these lengths to spoil Emily. But I made a promise, which I was intent on keeping–after delaying a lot, of course.

Harvey took to us right away when we went to visit a different, much younger kitten. Harvey’s relaxed and friendly demeanor made him a winner in my book now. Who knows how that other kitten would later turn out?

Emily thought the other kitten was cuter (it was). And, as it’s her wont, she had formed a detailed picture in her head of the kitten she wanted before we had looked at any. This made it hard for her to see past Harvey’s gender and fur color. She even said:

He’s not the most photogenic cat.

But after talking to her parents on the phone, they convinced her that Harvey would be a better fit for me. I owe them one!

Emily did put one hurdle in front of me: we had to come up with a new name. I ended up coming up with Samuel L. Catson–and, because he’s a hipster cat, he would go by his middle name, Lamont. Emily agreed to this name, but still hoped that I would come around to Ludwig von Catoven (I don’t want my cat beaten in a locker room, so no).

The next morning, Emily was not so keen on Mr. Catson anymore. After much complaining, inspiration struck me: Harvey, a combination of the first couple of letters in our last names. Emily was now happy. The name was cute and meant something to us. Maybe next time, Samuel L. Catson…

Anyway, Harvey has won me over quickly. He has a winning personality, like Charlie Sheen. The first night, he kept me up all night, poking my face. The second night he was much better, and last night we didn’t even notice him.

Dennis had a strict “no cats in the bed” policy. This is what I woke up to after Harvey’s first night in our house.

Harvey likes to cuddle, purr, and hang out near you. He even watches bad TV with Emily, which frees me up to play my games. If only he would stop rubbing his face against mine at night, marking me as his property…

You’re my property, damn you!

–Dennis