I went to my Saturday morning PAWS volunteer cat room cleaning shift, and figured I would probably fall in love with many cats -- it happens every week. This Saturday proved to be different, though. A small male Siamese long hair mix named Budhi was looking out at me.

We cleaned the cages as usual, and I didn't even move him, another volunteer did. But he continued to sit in the front of the cage, royally surveying his domain. I stopped and talked to him several times, and something made me go back over and over.

When our shift was coming to a close, I took his paperwork off the clipboard so no one would adopt him right at 11:00, before I could spend some time with him. I started to read his lengthy vet record (pages and pages), and began to wonder if I wanted to take this guy on. He was described in the vet log as "likely a longtime stray." His stay in ISO included a month of URI that really took its toll, several different courses of a variety of antibiotics, difficulty in drawing blood, elevated liver enzymes, matted fur, he is underweight, and didn't respond much to people. It seemed like a lot to handle. But I spent some time with him in the visiting room, and he didn't attack me, which I considered to be a good start.

Next thing I knew, I was handing over my credit card to Luke, with a big smile from both of us!

This little guy is a real trooper; he settled right in, claimed his room and so far hasn't reacted to my very annoyed older female cat (also a PAWS rescue -- two years ago). He seems glad to be able to move about, and he is coming to me for cuddles and love. I'm taking it slow: he's calling the shots -- for now!

Thanks to everyone who work hard to make these happy endings possible.