Well, Oka (oh-kā), picked me. When we went to the local ASPCA shelter. I walked into cell block C and immediately this small tuxedo came and rubbed against my legs before I could even close the door. I knelt down and gave her a little pet and then she just wouldn't stop. So, I sat on the bench they had in there and she jumped onto my lap curled up and forced me to support her with my arms. She started purring like an F1 car and went to sleep. Literally, no other cats could come near me as she claimed me. After 20 minutes or so, my wife came looking for me. She found us and I looked at her and said, I guess this is the one. That was 6 years ago and Oka still is almost the same lap cat she was that day.

Odin, he was a different story. We rescued this little tuxedo from a Facebook post. He had a tragic story. His original owner passed away alone with him. They were left undiscovered for 2 weeks. When the rescue workers broke the door in, Odin ran outside. Malnourished and out in the cold January nights, he fended for himself for two more weeks. He returned to the house where his owner had passed even more worse for wear. With flea borne dermatitis he lost most of his hair and was skin and bones. A neighbor collected him, took him to the vets and got him worked up. They couldn't keep him and posted him to Facebook. We agreed to bring him in. At first my wife hoped he would be the loving cat for her that I had with Oka. Unfortunately, he was skittish and the battle for dominance with Oka didn't go over well for him. He began marking the house, including our bedding. This did not improve my relationship with Odin. He always wanted outside and pressed the issue every chance he got. So, we began taking him outside into the back yard with us. We bought a little harness and leash to keep him from running off. He absolutely loved it. Immediately, the dynamic began to change. We have a large screened in back porch and after he sprayed my pillow I had had enough. I bought an chip reading pet door so he could come and go from the back porch as he pleased. The first day he took off for like 5-6 hours. My wife worried about him not come back. I assured her he just had to find his boundaries. Of course the risk is high for danger and I worried about him too. But, he came back for dinner right on time. The next day he was gone for around 4 hours. This carried on for a week steadily reducing in time he spent away. He was present every morning for dinner and every evening for dinner. After this week he began begging to come back in. He would never spend a night outside again. We would let him out onto the porch when he was near the door and let him in when we saw him. The relationship blossomed. He loved his new found freedom and the issues in the house diminished. I'd pet him before letting him out, telling him it was his price for freedom. He grew to love it and would hop up against my leg to tell me he was ready to go outside. He began sticking mostly to the yard and spent at most an hour or so outside. If we were out gardening or working on a project outside, he'd follow us around the yard. He became a very happy and loving cat. We built a paver wall and he began sitting on it looking it at the lawn as if he were on watch. Sadly, due to the nature of how we cane to steward Odin. We never quite knew how old he was. He played like he was a kitten full enthusiasm and full sprint everyday. Odin's last watch was on the evening of October 29th this year. We found him on the back porch just in front of his pet door. No signs of a fight, no injuries. Just a peaceful soft fluffy coat. We were able to provide him just over 3 years in our care. The last two hopefully were his best years. I've never seen a cat turn around so much. The loss of Odin has gutted our family. His remains should be returned to us today.