Powers of Persuasion – Lars

The first person I see at Maddie’s is a familiar looking man who’s admiring a pair of half grown kittens. He says he already has two former shelter cats at home and just likes to see who’s around. He doesn’t want to meet these cuties – as if afraid they’re that persuasive.

Speaking of which, I move on to see my sweet buddy Lars, the 3 year old FIV+ tabby and white lover boy. He’s skinny with the puffy cheeks of a former street cat. He’s got a kind of goofy snaggle tooth expression, but makes up for it with his big loving heart. He cuddles on my lap, rubbing and purring, then lolling like a doll baby, belly exposed.

We play for a little, as his frisky neighbor stares in, but Lars really wants more lap time. He starts a full body bath from the comfort of my crossed legs, and it’s all I can do to extract myself.

I chat with a couple. The guy says they’re just looking, but the cute and noticeably younger gal coos over the kittens, exclaiming how much she wants one in a squeaky voice. He pleads that they have to at least wait until after they move apartments. Not clear for how long she’ll settle for just taking pictures of the kittens.

Anyway, it’s not the best weekend for animals in the city, with the noisy military planes shooting by, we can all agree. I assure them we’ll have plenty more cats available after a couple weeks.

I find someone else staring in at the little orange tabby who had mesmerized the earlier guy. The woman promises to fill out her paper work, saying the kitty reminds her of one she used to have. She wants a cat who will keep her company and be okay with visiting grandchildren. The little guy is pretty mellow for a youngster. And when she picks him up, he just melts into her arms, eyes blinking shut and paws dangling.

I say my bit about taking a look at different cats and taking time to make an informed decision, but she’s completely smitten. She can barely stand to put him down long enough to head to the front lobby.