2010 Project 365 :: Day 006

Taken @ 12:23 pm EST

I’m surprised that I made it 6 days into this project before posting a picture of my cat. OK, I took some shots of him for Day 003, but the brownie won that battle.

A bit of background on my camera-friendly fuzzball:

Name: Monster

Age: almost 6 years old (born July 1st, 2004)

Sex: Male, “fixed” (such a strange choice of a word for an operation like that)

Breed: Mixed, though we are 100% sure he has some Maine Coon in him, due to his size, shape, & hair (Note: his hair is not full-length in the photo. We have him shaved during the summer/fall & it is still growing back.)

My hubby & I adopted him here in northern Connecticut just a few months after we started dating. We paid a local veterinarian $40 for him. Someone had found a group of 3-week-old abandoned kittens & brought them to her. The kittens were bottle-fed and, as a result, Monster is a big (20-pound) baby.

We had a number of other names in mind for him, but when I first saw him, I said, “Aaaawwwwww, he looks like a little monster!” (you know – black hair, green eyes) and it stuck. Thankfully, it is just a name. He is afraid of strangers, but warms up to them over time. He also likes to be held like a baby & petted – such a sap! Unfortunately, I don’t have the pictures of him as a kitten anymore, but he looked just like a black cotton ball (try & picture that).

Monster is my therapist & my baby. He’s my friend & my business partner. He’s the big man I can always count on. Coming up on 6 years old, Monster is roughly half way through his life. The thought of him passing break my heart, but I know it will happen one day. I don’t think I’ve ever loved a pet as much as him (though I had many cats as a child).

[Image taken by Victoria Klein]