Meet Smoky!
Name: Smoky
Breed: Maine Coon mix
Likes: Boxes, squirrel-watching on the porch, talking, getting pats and snuggles.
Dislikes: Being separated from “her people,” having to come in from the porch.
About Smoky: We weren’t planning to get another cat so soon after our previous cat passed away, but we were at a party and my friend Penny said, “I know someone with a cat for you.” We wound up exchanging e-mails with a friend of the cat’s owner and driving down to Richmond for a “meet and greet” with Smoky (then called Angel), who was driven up from southern Virginia. It was love at first sight (at least on our part), so we brought her home the Saturday before Hurricane Sandy hit. Our power was out for three days; Smoky warily curled herself into a tight ball, doubtless wondering why she had the misfortune of being in such a cold, dark home. She has settled in just fine, though, and talks to us all the time. (If only we spoke cat better!) The first toy we bought her, a little cloth mouse, has become her favorite; she brings it to us from all over the house, talking in a muffled voice the whole time she’s carrying it. Smoky likes to be wherever we are, and if we’re in separate rooms, she comes to each of us, trying to “talk” us into being in the same place.