Simcha - by Jonathan

The 5 month-old male orange tabby you see above is the new addition to our family, Simcha (pronounced Sim-ha, except the h is actually the letter chet pronounced with a clearing of the throat sound, like Michal’s name). "Simcha" means "joy."

A few days ago I was walking with a friend when we stumbled upon a pet store. I went in there because it was recommended in the HUC manual (our bible for survival here in Jerusalem) and I was wondering how much pet supplies for a cat would cost. Michal and I had been thinking that we have missed having a pet and I was curious how much money we would have to invest. Heela, the manager working there, was helping me out and asked me what kind of cat I was interested in. I told her I was thinking of rescuing one of the many stray cats in Jerusalem. Heela got very excited and told me that she had the most wonderful kitty that had been abandoned at her house a few months ago and was desperately looking for a home. She would adopt it herself, but she had too many animals. She told me if you look at it and don’t like it, she would show us some black kittens the neighbor had as well.

I got a good feeling from Heela, so I took down her phone number/address and went home to tell Michal. She wasn’t exactly thrilled about having an extra responsibility, but I assured her that it would be good for us and that night we visited Hela to see the kitty. Once at Heela’s house, she showed us a skinny orange tabby and gave it to Michal to hold. The cat went limp in her arms and started purring instantly. I looked at Michal and I knew I wouldn’t be able to pry that cat from her arms. We had our cat and never even looked at the black kittens.

Because of the great distance to Heela’s house, Heela offered to drive us home. Simcha was placed in a cardboard box with cutouts for handles and we hopped in her backseat. We soon discovered that Simcha holds a passionate belief that all car rides will end with his horrible death. He was thrashing in the box, meowing for dear life and swiping at anything he could reach through the cutouts like Freddy Kruger on meth.

The next day was vet day, and again another car ride there and back again. Between the car rides, thermometers being stuck up his butt, and heavy anti-flea drugs, he was completely pooped by the end of the day. He even got a bit sick. The next day consisted of us watching him carefully and making sure he could hold down food, drink, and go to the bathroom properly. The first day was definitely a real hardship in experience and transitions for the little guy, but through it all he snuggled and purred and let Michal and I know just how happy he was to have a home, even if it came with some hardships. We knew if he could be happy and loving through all this, we had a cat that matched our affectionate nature and a life-long family member.

I’m writing this on his third day with us and he is doing dramatically better. He has a lot of his spunk back and now he seems to be returning to his natural kitten inclinations. We will keep you posted on events, but in the meantime, please check out the start of his photo gallery.

http://community.webshots.com/slideshow?ID=553721542&key=JirOyy