Sometimes the moon and the stars align just right and synchronicity becomes the theme of life as in the case with our little Kizmet. Kizmet, that quirk of fate kitten that I instantly fell in love with when I went to Pet Supermarket on a Monday afternoon during my lunch break at my day job to buy some cat food. Why is this significant? Because normally I do my pet food shopping on the weekends in the Pet Supermarket that is near my house, but for whatever reason, I felt compelled to go on a week day and to the location near where I worked. The moment I walked into the store and our eyes locked, I knew he was destined to be a part of our family and thus the name Kizmet, as in fate, but with the “z” that is a predominant trait in our Zee/Zoey household.

The other reason for the synchronicity – apparently our little guy who was found abandoned on the streets before he was rescued was born on the 4th of July and if any cat is the definition of a live wire, firecracker, it is our Kizmet! So, please join us today in a double celebration as we say Happy 1st Birthday to Kizmet and Happy 237th Birthday to America!!!! Whoo Hoo!!!

What can I say about our little Kizmet other than “little” is no longer the operative word. Kizmet is a gigantic, goofy, happy-go-lucky, silly ball of fun-loving fur and his “cute and little” stage lasted about a two weeks with us. We got him on November 5th and by Christmas he was almost the same size as his new sibling brother and sisters, Rolz, Mia, and Peanut, and absolutely bigger than his new Mama, Zoey. As he’s grown this past year, we still are not quite certain of his lineage – at first glance, he looks primarily like a Maine Coon, but upon further examination you see a unique composition of body parts – he has a tiny head with a wide-framed body and long legs in the back, but very short legs in the front. Sometimes he looks like a raccoon, other times a wild lynx, and even like the endangered pallas cat. But, regardless, he is without a doubt the biggest blessing we could have ever asked for and not a day goes by that he doesn’t entertain Dan, I, and the other cats with his larger than life personality.

This picture was taken just a couple days ago and perfectly captures the true essence of Kizmet with his smaller head, large and meaty body, shorter front legs, and longer legs in the back.

This picture was also taken a couple days ago and when Kizmet sits, you can see how his tummy spreads out. Believe it or not, he does not eat an inordinate amount and I think he is still growing into his body.

At a year old, he still has the pesky “little brother” syndrome and can’t sit still next to any of the other cats for more than 15 seconds without starting to wrestle them and just be a general pain in the neck, but that’s okay – he’s just so darn cute that you can’t get upset with him at all. And despite his eagerness to fight and play, he really doesn’t have a mean bone in his over-sized frame and he melts like a bowl full of jelly when you go to pet him and his purr motor immediately goes into high gear as he loudly lets you know how happy he is to see you. You would think a cat of this size and with so much personality would have a ferocious meow, but that is the funniest part of all – he has the tiniest, sweetest, little squeak, eek, eek,  of a meow, almost as  if he is part mouse!

This is one of my favorite pictures and was taken a couple weeks after Kizmet was with us. I love it because it so eloquently portrays the love between Kizmet and his older “brother” Rolz. Despite that a few seconds later Kizmet went into full wrestle mode with Rolz, Rolz is very patient and tolerant of his baby brother.

He still brings wads of paper to us like a dog for a game of toss and fetch, although not as much anymore – his favorite form of exercise now is to come bounding out of nowhere and land with a startling thud next to Dan and I on the couch at night where he will snuggle for a bit and then run and bound off for other worldly pastures, such as our bedroom.

We love you so much Kizmet and you deserve a day like the 4th of July for your birthday, because you really do light up our lives, just like a spectacular display of fireworks! Thank you to everyone for stopping by to share in this special day – please be safe today and remember to take extra special care of our fur friends who do not really enjoy the fireworks and festivities like we do.

See you on Caturday and enjoy this brief montage of some of our favorite Kizmet moments!

This was Kizmet the first night I brought him home. I kept him in quarantine for the first couple of weeks to acclimate him to the household and he instantly became intrigued with playing fetch with a wadded up ball of paper!

My precious darling sitting still with me – this picture was taken the first week we got him and it still melts my heart to this day to look at his sweet face.

Once Kizmet was allowed full roam of the house, he was instantly at home and this was one of his typical wide-eyed poses on the couch.

This was Kizmet the first time we brought him outside on a leash and harness – you can see the awe and wonderment in his face as he takes in the tantalizing surroundings.

Our boy is starting to grow up into a handsome young mancat.

From the moment we got Kizmet as a kitten, he has loved lounging on the counter and I will not pretend that it bothers me…

And here he is on the counter at a year old… this is so him and his whole body just melts and drapes over the entire counter when you touch him!