Remington Steele "Remy" (fka: Walter)
Saturday, November 9, 2013
By: Laurie Phillips

Becoming friends with Indiana Jones "Indy"

This past summer was a rough one. In a span of three months, I lost my two girl kitties to the advances of old age. They lived to the good age of 17 and 16 respectively. I still have a 12 year old boy cat and before the 16 year kitty passed, I felt it was time to bring a new cat into the family. But because of her advanced age and kidney disease, I wanted a cat that would not cause her any stress during her final time with the family. Other qualifications: Must be of same weight and stature as the current boy cat; close in age to him; liked other cats; calm personality.

I volunteer at HSHV as a cat comforter, so I tend to watch the adoption site and read the profiles of the newly added cats each day. After reading the profiles, I usually don't reread them again. Remy (formally known as Walter), who is 8 years old, had been at HSHV since April and I recall visiting with him maybe once before they moved him into the administrative offices. But on my lunch break one day in mid-August, I was browsing the adoption site and for reasons unknown, clicked on his profile again to read it. There was a new notation on his profile, "UPDATE!". The update on his profile said that his personality was very laid back and he was extremely accepting of other felines. That got my interest and I decided to see him again on the weekend when I was out there for a volunteer shift.

On my way home from work that Friday, I had this overwhelming sense that I did not want to go to my gym class (which I always attend). Once home, I was scanning Facebook and saw that Remy was being featured on the public HSHV Facebook page. I watched the video and knew I needed to get to the shelter right away before someone else snagged him up. At first Remy was kind of stand-offish. No purrs, but he was fine as I petted him. I still wasn't sure if he was right cat to join the family, so I put a 12-hour free hold on him. The next morning, I came back with my sister to see what she thought of Remy. She liked him and Remy was more outgoing and purring up a storm. I also chatted with the Foster Care program director. She said that Remy was very calm cat and non-confrontational when it came to other cats. I made my decision and knew that Remy was the right cat for the family.

It was meant to be. I renamed him from Walter to Remington Steele, "Remy", (his older brother is Indiana Jones, "Indy"). Remy was awesome with his older sister for the last month she was with us. He knows how to put up with his overbearing older brother, Indy. He sits on my lap in the evenings as I watch TV. And, when it is bed time, all I have to do is call his name and he comes running upstairs and settles into his kitty bed next to me for the night. My son's first impression of Remy was that he was "bright". You have to understand that for the last 20 years, we have always had grey, black and black/white cats. Now we have this caramel colored kitty and I would not have it any other way. I am totally in love with Remy and am so glad to have him be a part of this family. And ever so slowly, Remy and Indy are becoming good friends.