November 8, 2019 was the date I heard a meow outside our garage door early in the morning, the day a little black kitten decided our home was the one he knew in his heart would be the perfect forever home for him. He, of course, was right. Despite trying to find his owner, we had a strong hunch he had been both abandoned and abused, so keeping him really was in his best interest and somehow, he seemed to have already known that when he came upon our house.

We guessed him to be about 6 months old, hence christening his birthday as May 8, 2019. So, here we are today, celebrating his 2nd birthday! Time sure has flown by, and how odd that more than half of his life has been spent living in a COVID world. Not that he would know any different. For him, having his humans around the house 24/7 is his norm.

He’s come a long way since our early days. Back then biting and scratching were his way of communicating and he was wary of the human touch. I can’t say that he’ll ever jump on the couch and cuddle with us at night as our other cats do, but his biting and scratching bouts are all but gone and he does snuggle on my lap occasionally while I’m working at my desk (albeit awkwardly) and I know he trusts that Dan and me will not hurt him and that our hands and touch do not represent a threat.

The other cats have come to accept him, too, and he, them. Not in a cuddly buddy-buddy sort of way, but he does like to playfully wrestle with Zoey and Rolz and there are really no altercations in an overall sense. The exception – Jazmine. Still, to this day, she is 100% unwilling to accept his presence and her method of communicating with him is hissing, growling, and stalking him for stare downs. Deep down, I know he would prefer to be her friend, and ironically, I know she would prefer to be his friend, too.

Jazmine and Shadow were happy to social distance, long before it was the responsible thing to do.

But the line in the sand has already been drawn so it’s an automatic reflex for her to hiss at him, and for him to hiss back in defense. He figured out a way around it, however, finding and creating his own happy space. For years now, long before Shadow came into our lives, we have had to keep our bedroom door shut. Somehow, out of what seemed the blue, the feline dynamic in our household shifted and territorial spraying started to happen. It’s becoming more manageable but our bedroom is still a problem area with some of the cats who instantly go in and spray around the bed.

A typical day for Jazmine.

A typical day for Shadow.

Shadow is not one of the problem cats and he loves the peace and quiet of the bedroom. We let him in there and it’s like his own bachelor pad. He has the bed to himself, a litter box, and lots of windows for bird and squirrel watching. He loves the room so much, that sometimes he’ll be sitting by the door, just waiting for us to let him in. The best part for him – it’s a Jazmine-free zone.

Zoey, Mia, and Zee are completely unaffected by Shadow’s presence and go about their day in peace.

Jazmine’s exception to being around Shadow. Food. Anything related to food and she’ll temporarily turn off the hissing machine.

And I’m still confident one day they’ll be more tolerable. The other day I saw Jazmine sniffing Shadow while he was eating and nothing adversarial happened. There is hope. In the meantime, we give him as much love and attention as we can. His favorite thing besides hanging out in his apartment is our nightly excursions outside in our fenced-in backyard. He loves, loves, loves the feel of the cement pavers on his fur, rolling around in pure bliss and I’m happy to be able to provide him that luxury.

Shadow loves to chill on the pavers around the fountain (little did he know we were in the process of renovating it)

Flowers? For me? Oh, how kind of you!

Happy Birthday sweet Shadow and here’s to many more!