After moving into my present apartment in October 1998, I was not able to afford the pet deposit or a pet. Also, I had been told by doctors for many years that my asthma was likely due to having cats, so I resigned myself to being petless. :-(

During the summer of 1999, I was sent to an allergist to control my asthma. He had me go through the scratch tests to see what I was allergic to. Every test came up negative - 60 of them, including one for cats! So, they repeated the major ones, which was still 40-some, and they came up negative again! So, no allergies meant I could have a pet again! Yippee!

By fall, I'd saved enough money for the deposit, and my neighbor and I went hunting at the local Humane Society. After playing with a few of the kittens and cats, I settled on Homer.

Homer was 3 months old, but was still kitten-sized. His fur was gray on top, with a white underbelly. His eyes seemed very expressive. He was content to be held for a little bit, and I did my "mellow test" on him, by flipping him over on his back to see if he minded being held like a baby. He tolerated it, so I felt that was a good sign! Once the papers were all completed, Homer went for neutering (required by the Humane Society) and front declawing (required by my apartment complex) and came home a few days later.

Homer enjoyed exploring his new home. The next night, I was babysitting my nephew, and he helped take some of these pictures. Here are some general "baby" pictures.

By the time he was 6 months old, Homer had grown considerably, and his tail had bushed out. His legs were very thick, and I began to wonder if he were a Maine Coon cat! His papers said he was a Domestic Short Hair, but Homer looked like he was becoming a Long Hair. In the picture below, I can't remember if he was just under 1 year, or 2 years.

Looking at Maine Coon cats on the internet, I came to the conclusion that Homer was at least Maine Coon on one side, but was probably mixed with something else on the other side. At the Humane Society, he was in a cage with a "sister" who was a tiger cat. But Homer has many of the characteristics of a Maine Coon - the raccoon face, some of the fur colorings, the short thick legs for climbing trees, the soulful eyes, the pale undertail, and later on, the tufts in front of his ears. His "bib" is still coming in. This is the fur on his chest, it gets really long and full. It took my brother's full breed Maine Coon cat a long time to grow his bib.

Homer is very much a ham, and wants to please me. So he is very much like a dog in that respect. I taught him to "give paw", and he taught himself how to play "fetch". My computer is at the foot of my bed, so Homer sits on the bed and tries to get my attention. One certain cry means he wants to play Fetch, usually with a milk jug ring or a mousie-toy. Another certain cry means he wants to be petted, and usually he taps me or even dusts me off, like a scratching post. When he's hungry, he smacks his lips! LOL

He talks a lot, too. With Mittsy, I called it a "query", because it was a questioning sound, like "what do you want?" or "yes?", but only when you disturbed or surprised him. With Cricket, my sister calls it a "Murph", because that's what it sounds like to her, and Cricket does it when you come into a room where she is laying. With Homer, I call it a "twirtle". He does it all the time, not just for queries or entering a room but while playing and whenever you talk to him. Different from a meow, or a war cry when he attacks a toy.

Homer has saved me a lot of money on toys because of his love for milk jug rings! He doesn't care for catnip, and the only commercial toys he loves are the little fur-covered mice you can buy. He knows the words "ring" and "mousie" and "fetch", so it is easy to get him to play with something when he wants attention. He's had some other toys that were bought for him, too.

He is learning "towel". He likes a hand towel to play with. He gets "medieval" on it, where he bites and shakes and claws it with his back feet. Sometimes, I will use the towel to roughhouse with him, when he seems to need to work out some aggressions. I can tell when he needs it when he is licking my hands, and gives me nibbles, or tries to bite my hand when I stop petting him. He loves roughhousing like this, and he has a good sleep afterwards!

Homer loves company! It could be a person or an animal, but he loves when there is something alive to play with! He acts goofy and silly, more so than when he is just with me, so I am not sure how to take that? :-|

One of his usual antics is "cockroaching" on a chair back. He loves to do this balancing act! That's him in the background, when I had white leather chairs. It's even better if someone is sitting in the chair, because then he can lean on you or climb on you. One time, he got up on my sister's head, wrapping his forepaws around her forehead! She said "He wants me to wear his a$$ as a hat!". LOL

He understands that by looking cute, he gets attention. So he will drape himself on things, and turn his head sideways and look at you, knowing you will go "Awww, isn't he just too cute?".

He is also very opportunistic when it comes to claiming things to play with or where he wants to lay.

He is now almost 4 years old, and starting to really want affection, like laying by the head of the bed within petting distance rather than just being by me at the foot of the bed. I am enjoying that, too! Update April, 2003: Not only did Homer come up by my pillow (okay, to sniff at food) and stayed, he also got "mellow" and stretched out one paw to "hang". Kewl! :-)

Many is the time I have said "I'm not worthy", because Homer has been such a great cat so far!