I’ve always been a dog person. I’ve had dogs my entire life and, actually, this is the first time that I can remember not having a dog. My sweet Millie passed away about six month ago. But we still have Nigel, our beloved cat. Those are words I never thought would come out of my mouth.

My father was gracious enough to allow me to have pets while raising me. I usually had dogs, but he did bring a cat home one day during middle school. It was already in the house when he brought me home from school because he wanted to surprise me with it. We had no idea how well they hid when they are scared and it took us a good hour or so to find that cat. Needless to say I was very surprised by the time we found it! I found out not too long after that that I was allergic to cats, so we gave her to my aunt. I wasn’t terribly upset as I wasn’t that fond of her anyway.

I’ve always enjoyed dogs more because they’re more interactive, act happier to see you, are a lot more playful, and have more of a personality in my humble opinion. I’ve always wanted play partners and dogs were perfect for that. Cats are cute to look at and play with for a bit, but they usually get bored after a minute or two and walk away or start licking themselves. Or they just sit there and stare at you. What fun is that? They just want you to pet them all the time. What fun is that?

Nigel was posted on Facebook by a friend as a cat that needed rescuing before he was put down. While I wasn’t a huge cat fan, I also couldn’t let an animal die if I could help it. And my husband is a cat lover, so I decided we’d check it out. I sent the picture to my husband and he immediately fell in love with Nigel’s beautiful face and green eyes. He is a gorgeous cat. I decided to go meet him to see if I was going to die from sneezing being allergic and all. He was sweet and gentle (aka terrified) and I didn’t sneeze at all. The next day my husband went to meet him and we ended up bringing him home.

Nigel hid inside the recliner (underneath, in the mechanics) of our sectional sofa for the first few months of moving in. I guess he came out at night and ate and went to the bathroom when no one was around or moving. He eventually came out and got to know us and we him. He turned me into a cat lover. He has the sweetest disposition and is so loving (to us). He doesn’t get into anything or do anything wrong. He’s mild mannered and the only crazy thing he does is tear out around the house every so often like a maniac when he’s feeling frisky and needs to get some laps in. We crack up. He also likes to hang out inside the cabinets some, but that’s cute. He doesn’t knock things off tables or counters, doesn’t unroll the toilet paper, doesn’t scratch where he isn’t supposed to, doesn’t do anything wrong. He’s the perfect cat – I kid you not. So, now I’m a cat lover. Because Nigel changed my mind.

I’m grateful every day that Nigel picked us. If we had gotten any other cat I’m positive I wouldn’t be the cat lover I am today. He completely changed my mind about cats and now I adore them. But of course, I’m biased. Just look at that FLOOF!