the cat I couldn't let go

I've had probably 200 kittens come thru my place since I began fostering feral kittens and socializing them for adoption. Many of them were adorable, a few were sweeter than the others and one or two almost never left. But I managed to let them all go until Loki came along.

He first showed up on the back lot at work in early July of 2015 as a pretty small kitten, maybe 8-10 weeks old. He was super spooky and we only caught glimpses of him as he scooted under a crate or around a corner. His face was lovely, gray with white accents around his eyes and I started calling him Sophie because at that point I didn't know he was a he.

I couldn't catch him until my friend Julie came and went for her annual visit, as the guest room is also the Kitten Rehabilitation Center. I did finally trap him on July 29th using Donna's drop trap. He flipped out, banging around in the big cage before finally darting into the smaller cage.

Took him to the vet, got him neutered and picked him up that evening. He was very shy and grumpy that night as the anesthetic wore off but never growled or bit at me. He even purred a bit when I was brave enough to stick a hand into the cupboard and pet his head.

Flash forward five and a half years and he's a 20 pound giant who's bitten me more times than I can count, who gazes into my eyes and licks my nose and gives me slow blinks while he purrs like a freight train. I've never had a relationship with a cat like I do with Loki. Cat of a lifetime.