Click! - Or, "how a black female cat entered my life".

Back to the shelter.

More than 30 amazingly beautiful adult cats looking at me. Some with hope, some with disdain, some just wanting to get out of their cages and chill for a while.

And I was looking for a less-adoptable pet. To be honest, I had my list of less-adoptables narrowed down to... 12. I went online and browsed through profiles and promised myself I would keep myself to the list. The problem was:  with many of them, I didn't click. Not like I did with Alfie. And Alfie - oh, ADORABLE Alfie - had been adopted. (I knew it: I knew that in the span of a week he would be gone because he was so captivating...)

And so I kept looking. Taking pets out of their cages, playing with them, petting them, brushing them. I spent a couple of hours at the shelter. And still... No click. I began to feel disappointed and thought that maybe it just would not happen that day. Which was sad, because I wanted a cat, and I wanted one as soon as possible.

So, about half an hour before I have to leave, I see this little black cat in the back of a cage. She - yes, it was a she - was tiny and had beautiful, big, yellow-and-green eyes. The description in her cage door said that she was affectionate, playful, around 1.5 years old, and that her owners had given her up 6 months before because they were moving. Her name was Meeko.

To tell the truth, Meeko was not on my list. She was younger than what I was looking for, and she was a SHE - let me remind you of the bias I had against female cats based on my roommate's senior cat who hate me.Still, I had not chosen a cat yet and maybe Meeko deserved a chance.

She struck me right away. She didn't appreciate being carried but as soon as we got to the play room she opened up. She played, she weaved around my legs. She let me pet het. Meeko had a bright, very soft medium coat, the kind of coat it feels good to touch. About 3 minutes after we were there, she jumps on my lap, puts her paws in my shoulders, and bumps her head slightly in my forehead.

Click. This was it. Again.

It took me less than 15 minutes to fall in love with her - and less than one minute to fill her adoption form. The Humane Society receptionist told me it should take one or two days until they approved us. I went home excited as I hadn't been in a while and already craving to bring Meeko home.

First couple of visits to the local shelter.

After deciding it was time to get a cat and giving some thought to what kind of cat I should get, it was time to visit the shelter. In my case, the Lawrence Humane Society shelter. I signed up for volunteering and figured that it would be a good way of helping the cause while choosing a cat.

The choosing process took a long time. In each of my visits, I was faced with lots of beautiful cats in need of a home, and it seemed impossible to try to decide which one I should get.

In keeping with my adoption plan (adult, male, personable cat), I devised a strategy:
- Avoid the kitten room (kittens are too charming and it is hard to resist them).
- Looking for adult cats that seem to want to go out(lots of the wanted).
- Spend some one-on-one time with the outgoing cats. (I took some and played with them in the play room, petted them, groomed them).

Slowly, I got my preferences narrowed down and one cat in special caught my heart: Alfie.

Alfie was an adorable 3 year old orange cat who was a real purring machine. While other cats sometimes scratched when they were held out of their cages, Alfie didn't. He purred constantly, bumped his head into my head, played with every toy I presented him with. This was IT. 

Still, it was a Friday and I thought I should rest on my decision for another night. Once you adopt a cat, you should keep in mind that this is a non-revocable decision. I am not taking this cat out of a shelter just to return it a couple months later.

With that in mind, I went home.