Today is the day I adopted Simon 9 years ago. He was a year and a half when he was adopted. I had said I did not want a kitten because they have too much energy. I specifically wanted an older cat. Simon was much younger than I had wanted, but he was the perfect fit. 

Now that it is just Simon and Jolene, Simon is the one who has been with me the longest. Simon is younger than Jolene, but Simon was young when he was adopted and Jolene was much older. 

In addition to being with me the longest, Simon is the only one left who remembers the apartment. I was still in the apartment when Simon was adopted. He then lived in the house from hell and is now in our beautiful house of safety. Simon has lived with me in three different places. This cat has been everywhere. Talk about resilience.

When I first met Simon, Jude was an only child. I had been telling Jude after Kitty died that he was going to be an only child. However, 7 months after Kitty died, Jude wore me down. Even though I played with Jude every day, I could tell he was lonely and needed a friend.

 October is disability employment awareness month. Some of the children with disabilities that I was working with at the time participated in a job shadow program that month to explore career opportunities. Some of the children who were interested in working with animals were job shadowing at the local animal shelter following the vets and vet techs there. 

As part of their job shadow program, I had to do site visits and spend some time seeing how the children were doing with their job shadowing. It was in this process that I first met Simon. He was a quiet cat who sat in statue pose until he got a zoomie and then took off to another room. He was cute and loving. 

I went back to visit him later after work when I was not supervising the children job shadowing. I visited with Simon several times to be sure he had a personality that I thought would get along well with Jude. 

I was approved to adopt Simon at the end of October, but I asked the shelter if they could keep him a few extra days past Halloween and I would take him home on November 1. I did not want to bring home a new cat right before Halloween and have one of his early experiences in a new home to be scary due to trick or treaters. 

Simon came home on November 1, and I had him in his own room to settle in and start the slow introduction with Jude. Simon and Jude ended up being the fastest and most peaceful introduction I have ever had between two cats. They went much faster than I expected or anticipated. Almost from day one, they were playing paws under the door with each other. Jude was very eager for a new playmate. Instead of a few months that it normally takes, Simon integrated with Jude in a few weeks. The two were very closely bonded. 

Even though Simon was a year and a half, he still had a lot of kitten mischief in him that was hard to handle. I remember he would constantly attack my feet in bed at night. I don’t think he realized at first that he could sleep in the bed. Once he finally realized that he did settle down. Early days were rough with middle of the night feet attacks before he figured out he could be in the bed too. 

Then there was the Great Marshmallow Incident of winter 2017/2018. Every so often, I will have bags of marshmallows. I typically use them camping, but always have some left over. I will usually float one in my coffee for fun. Try it. Dipping a marshmallow in coffee sounds strange, but it tastes good. Well, one day, Simon grabbed the marshmallow and took off with it. He ate part of it. So, then I was on the phone to the vet office telling them to be sure he was ok. 

It is a constant struggle with Simon when there are marshmallows in the house. He always tries to steal them and take off with them. Sometimes I get the mini marshmallows instead of the normal sized ones. He still tries to take them. 

Simon is sweet and loving. He sleeps in the bed with me every night. Simons job for Hedgewatch is Chief Cuddler. Simon is very loving to everyone he meets. He was very strongly bonded to Jude. He is strongly bonded to Jolene. He tried so hard with Flower. He would follow her around and get as close to her as she would allow. He just loves to cuddle.

At the vet office, they call Simon “Mr Mellow.” Simon is so laid back. He allows all exams and handling. They were even able to do full ultrasound and x-rays on him without sedation when he was at his emergency appointment in September to be sure he did not have an obstruction. 

Simon loves catnip toys and tends to lick them. He also enjoys small catnip mice. He likes to pick them up by their tails and fling them around. Simon enjoys his blankets. He gets upset when I take all the little blankets off the kuranda tower to be washed and refuses to get on the tower until the blankets return. 

Simon will always be my baby. He is the youngest cat I adopted since getting Kip and Kitty as kittens. Simon may be a 10-year-old senior, and he may have been with me longer than Jolene, but he is still the baby. Once Simon and Jolene are gone, I will not be adopting any more. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to outlive these cats to keep them together. 

Simon is a good baby is a phrase frequently heard in this house. It is so true. Simon is so gentle and loving. He is the definition of innocence.

Happy Gotcha Day, Simon! We love you! Thank you for choosing me to be your mom!