Leo and I should have learned from adopting Willow; you can never judge a cat from the first or second impression. They will show their adorable, sweet, loving selves, selling themselves at their cuteness factor like a man peddling his goods in a market. Next thing you know, you have a screeching, scratching ball of fur running amok in your home, claiming possession of one and all of your things. But we didn’t learn. Which is how we ended up adopting a hellion that we literally had to put a bell on to keep track of him.

People often categorize themselves as dog people or cat people. Ever since I met him, Leo swore up and down that he was a dog person. And he wasn’t kidding; the first time I went to his house I met his dogs– 2 American shepherds named  Dodger and Ranger, one Malamute/Husky/Wolf mix named Maverick, a dachshund named Toby and the queen of the house: Ginger, the chihuahua.

That’s a lot of dogs.

When he helped me adopt Willow, though, I could see that he was warming up towards the feline side of life. It wasn’t until we moved up to Alexandria that he seriously entertained my idea of adopting a friend for her. (Willow and Wally never developed a buddy rapport; they respected each other but that was it. In truth, I think Wally is the only creature that Willow respected)  So, early in September, Leo finally agreed to go look at the kitties at PetSmart. I was ecstatic. I had wanted a kitten when we were first adopting, instead opting for the hell beast…I mean Willow. I was bursting with joy imagining the cuteness that came with a kitten.

Part of me is always sad when I see the kitties up for adoption, because I wish I could rescue them all. But, short of becoming a crazy cat lady, I will keep my max at two kitties. The first PertSmart we went to had a few kittens but one caught my eye. He was in a cage by himself, sitting right in the middle. He was a tiny little longhaired gray kitten with white paws, a white muzzle and white chest. I remarked about his resemblance to Willow, and Leo agreed. But, since he has asthma, he was not psyched about adopting a long-haired cat. I looked wistfully back at the kitten as we left the adoption area, but conceded to Leo’s request. We would visit another adoption center.

At the next PetSmart, we found a little black kitten, a dainty little thing with white paws. Leo loved her; but I didn’t want to adopt another girl. I instinctively knew Willow would probably go crazy, so I vetoed the pick. In the end, I told Leo that the gray kitten was it. Something about him just made me smile. We went back and narrowly beat a another family who was considering adopting him. My little boy weighed about 4 or 5 pounds and had the cutest little face in the world.

As it happens, Leo and I proved that once you misjudge a cat’s nature, you are bound to do it again.

The first day we brought him home, we were both terrified at Willow’s reaction. I honestly thought she would off him the first chance she got. Sure enough, as soon as she saw the kitten creep out of his carrier, she let out a hiss and proceeded to sniff and smack the little guy around. She was not a fan. For the first couple of days, we kept them apart when we were not home, gradually introducing him into our living space.

Then on the third night, we discovered one of the reasons Willow wasn’t warming up to her new brother– he had a piece of poop stuck to his tail. First offense.

Second, the little guy quickly developed  a fearlessness that should have warned us about his future behavior. Wally began to hit the bars of his cage with empty paper towel rolls in order to fend off his intrusive paw inspections.

Third, the little man started to GROW.

After a about two weeks, we began to feel more comfortable leaving the cats together. Willow had finally given in and grabbed him one day, groomed him impatiently and them swatted him away.

We took that as a sign of progress. We had considered many names for him, including Mephistopheles (which Leo quickly vetoed). We had re watched Star Trek a few days before adopting him so one night Leo joked that we should call him Spock–then inspiration hit.

James Tiberious Kirk.

We had it. We decided to call him Tiberious and the matter was settled. The little cat’s curiosity grew as he grew. I realized one day that this cat was going to be massive. I also realized that his capacity to get into trouble was surpassing Willow’s. He got into EVERYTHING. He jumped on things– which wouldn’t be so bad if he had any semblance of balance.

This had to be the most awkward cat in the history of felines. He also had an expression that can only be described as tweeking. My friend Dayna came to stay with us for a weekend and she dubbed him her little tweeker. He would sit and look at you with his head cocked to the side and let out a chirp. Unlike Willow’s annoying MEOW, he had a tiny chirp which became almost funny as he kept growing.

He also began to pick on Willow– he would quietly stalk up behind her, then pounce. Willow is not subtle about voicing her indignation. He also decided that any plant we had in the house was fair game. Considering the long list of plants poisonous to cats, which can be  found here, he pretty much put a stop to Leo bringing me flowers. Lilies were his favorite– I swear the first time we realized he had gotten into them we freaked out while he walked around acting high for an hour.

Did I mention the growing? After a year, he was bigger than Willow. And he didn’t stop growing. We discovered we had adopted a full Norwegian Forest Cat– wedgie for short (pronounced W-EE-DGIE). When he finally stopped growing at two years old, he was bigger than the dog. During his adolescent stint (which unfortunately for Willow lasted about two years) we had to buy a collar with a bell on it, in order to know where he was and to give Willow a fighting chance.

Leo, being a dog person, had never raised a kitten. The end result is that we now own a cat who truly believes he is part dog. I own a hybrid– he comes when you call him, he fetches…he even sits on command. THE CAT SITS!! As much as he has matured, he is still a kitten at heart who loves his canine siblings.

But I’m also pretty sure that ever since Willow and him bonded, they have been plotting how to take over the world. Because, really, what else do cats do all day?

Don’t be deceived by the furry cuteness…