From commentor Linda Eilenah:
This is Sadie. She is unbelievably sweet, exceptionally pretty (if I may offer my rather biased opinion), and an undeniable force of nature whose only purpose in life is to inhabit every horizontal surface in the house and forcibly clear said surfaces of any objects that might be in her way. She is personally responsible for a number of spilled beverages and the sole reason why various lightweight (but expensive) pieces of electronic equipment are taped to my desktop.
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Sadie was a stray who “adopted” my daughter while she was stationed in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia while serving in the US Navy. Over the course of a week and change, my daughter was waylaid in the parking lot of her apartment complex two or three times a day by this lovely little calico kitty. She would run up to her, stopping directly in her path, plop down on the pavement, and roll over onto her back with her belly fully exposed — as if to say, “Go ahead. Take me for a test drive. Once you’ve petted this creamy white belly, you won’t be able to resist taking me home.”
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My daughter already had two cats, and was not looking to make an addition to her household. But one rainy night, she found this feline beauty plaintively mewing at her apartment door as she stepped out to go to the grocery store. All her resistance was washed away with the rain and she made the decision on the spot to take her into her “family”.
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My daughter afterwards reported to me that, later on that same evening, as she piled into bed with the TV tuned to one of her favorite shows, Sadie hopped up onto the bed and made a beeline straight for her side. She propped herself on my daughters leg and looked up at her adoringly, and then actually let out an audible sigh of apparent contentment and satisfaction. My daughter knew at that moment that her fate was sealed. She waited over two weeks for someone to claim their “lost” cat, all the while hoping fervently that no one would. Thankfully, no one did. She has been a part of my extended family ever since.
valdivia
Sadie is a cutie.
SiubhanDuinne
Sadie is absolutely gorgeous, and I love her story. By damn, she knew what she wanted and she did what she needed to achieve her not-so-terribly-lofty goals: Focus, Persistence, Persuasion, and Gratitude. A lesson there for all of us.
asiangrrlMN
Sadie is gorgeous and so determined. This story made me smile.
ETA: I think she would be perfect for Tunchie.
Hillary Rettig
animals are so eloquent, if we just take the time to listen
Keith G
Such a face on that girl! And that look. She is in charge. Fantastic story. Sadie chose well.
I have two girls who have learned the power of the “I’m rolling over so you have to scritch my belly” pose. How can one resist?
stuckinred
Do we not worry about the girth of many of the felines we see on this blog?
JPL(formerly demo woman)
Sadle is exceptionally pretty and your daughter is lucky. It’s so pleasant to wake up and read a rescue story, thanks Anne for posting these.
Phyllis
My granny always said ‘Cats choose you’.
Keith G
@stuckinred: We know from first hand narrative that many of the kittehs in question have had vet visits. I assume that these caring family members are following any dietary advice given at those time.
So, no (to your rhetorical question).
electricgrendel
What a beautiful cat, but in that picture she really looks like she’s about to give me the choice between my wallet and my life.
WereBear (itouch)
HOW do so many lovely and affectionate felines just go begging in the streets!
But at least many of them have marketing skills.
Regarding excess kitty girth; most of the commercial foods in the market contain grains, which cats cannot digest.
That said, Sadie has the very thick soft fur of the Shorthair breed, they can naturally be stocky. Because she is drop dead gorgeous.
RedKitten
She looks just as plush and soft as Tunchie does! Imagine the two of them snuggled up on each side of you, if you will.
Kristine
A lovely story to start the day.
ChrisS
I love big, fat cats. There’s just something about them that screams, “Queen(king) of all I survey.”
Our two cats are slowly, but surely getting used to Jack. The older kitty had been socialized with dogs during her time at the shelter while Tara worked there. So she’s rather bold. She very much enjoys drinking out of his water dish, sharpening her (non-existent) claws on the couch next to his bed, and she was even sleeping on his bed while Jack was in his crate.
The younger kitty, not so much. She hates the dog and really wants him gone. She’ll come downstairs and wander about, but she’s very wary of where he is. He was outside at the patio door and she was inside all puffed-up, spitting and hissing, and slapping at the glass with her (non-existent) claws. If he so much as looks at her, she hisses.
Pictures:
Amiya & Jack
Aisha and Jack grazing
J.
Looks like Tunch may have found his soul mate (or sumo wrestling partner).
Great story. Great cat.
Comrade Mary
There are two killer vocalizations every cat must have: the silent meow and the heartfelt sigh. These will instantly pierce the heart of any vulnerable human.
Sadie is gorgeous! Such plush, dense fur, too.
WereBear
Absolutely. Our Reverend Jim is one of the best sighers around. It comes from the bottom of his heart.
A nnie
The story makes me “sigh” too. Thanks………..
jeffreyw
Looks like the perfect kitty! Yay for fat cats!
@ChrisS: Such a pretty Jack!
Homer is doing fine.
Linda Featheringill
Nice job on the photo, Anne!
Yes, Sadie is a bit thick through the middle. And she has very thick fur. I keep a small fan on the floor for her during the summer months because she does get hot.
Loved the photos of Jack and the cats! Jack is so cute and the kittehs are so pretty. Nice family you have!
w3ski
I have Sadies Cousin. Google “Turkish Van” and see lots of her relatives. They are a very special Breed of cat.
w3ski
PTirebiter
My wife and I are dyed in the wool dog people but Sadie is an exceptionally good looking cat. Luckily, we’ve never had to turn away any stray cat that’s crossed our path. We live in an area that caters to Barn Cats and entry level positions are always available.
Linda Featheringill
@w3ski:
Turkish Van:
I went to Google and looked at the cuties. You’re right. They do look like Sadie, who has a Very Interesting Tail [tricolor].
Mnemosyne
Pretty kitty! I love calicos and torties. I currently have neither (we have a tuxedo, a brown tabby, and a black-and-white) but our late kitty Natasha was a tortie with the full-on tortietude. If she was mad at you, she would follow you from room to room just so she could turn her back on you and ignore you. And she drooled when you petted her.
Lunarmovements
@stuckinred:
No, we do not. I am well acquainted with Sadie and know something of her history. What the story above does not mention is that Sadie was pregnant when she was taken into the family. She gave birth to two beautiful male cats who grew up to be very gorgeous and impressive beasties, each in their own right. She was spade after she gave birth, and, as is quite common, put on some weight after the procedure. Now several years have passed since her adoption. She is a bit chubbier than she was when she was young, but the weight gain has been quite gradual and is not indicative of any change in her health or eating patterns.
Which means, in human terms, that she is a middle aged woman who has had kids and is no longer leading the active lifestyle she did in her youth (i.e. literally chasing down every meal). How many human beings of that description read this blog? Shall we call them all out and publically discuss their weight “problem”? I don’t think so.
And, yes, I know I’m a bit guilty of anthropomorphism here. But, ♫♪ if you knew Sadie like I knew Sadie ♪♫, you couldn’t look her in the eye and tell her she was anything but absolutely perfect.
LanceThruster
Cats are the ultimate grifters (not that there’s anything wrong with that) but get away with it because we choose to be smitten.
Sadie also appears to inhabit some sort of multi-dimensional space-time vortex as human flesh seems to pass right through her belly. Ask her if she knows where to pick-up a flux capacitor.
Marty McFly: Time circuits on. Flux Capacitor… fluxxing. Engine running. All right!
psychobroad
She looks as big as Tunch. And I agree w/ someone above–she has this “hand over the goods and no one gets hurt” expression.
ruemara
MMm, giant Tunchesque Female! She is adorable! I love rescue cats, they are so bright, loving and they choose who they want to be with, which is awesome. Congrats to Sadie’s family.
Mnemosyne
@WereBear (itouch):
It’s funny, because our kitties get protein-based food without grains (Blue Buffalo Wilderness dry and Soulistic wet) and Charlotte is still a little chunky. But I think that’s just her body type (shorthair with possibly some oriental), plus she’s just over a year old so I think some baby fat is hanging on. Keaton and Annie are both lovely and sleek beneath their fluffy coats.
It’s definitely not a lack of exercise — she will still play with the laser toy until her nose turns bright red and she starts panting.
trollhattan
Not a cat person, but that is one Pretteh Kitteh.
jane futzinfarb
The first (of MANY) pets that my spouse and I have cared for was a cat whose apartment complex behavior was much like Sadie’s. We also felt bad for her after one long winter holiday break (this was a university town) when she had clearly gone without food and shelter in the cold for much too long and so we determined to adopt her.
We advertised in the apartment complex to insure we were not catnapping and in the process found out what a sweet scam our clever little feline had been running – there were at least 6 households in the complex that had toys, “favorite” food, litter boxes, scratching posts, cute names and so on for our precious “orphan”, and she’d cycle through them on about a two week basis staying in each one for two or three days at a time. They all turned out to be transient types (i.e. college students) and the apartment complex actually forbade owning pets, so when we were willing to make a lifelong commitment we “won”. The complex kept our security deposit when we left, citing “our” cat as the reason. She passed away at a ripe old age, what, eight or nine years ago, now.
mem from somerville
I, too, am unable to resist the demand to “rub dis belleh”. And also a sucker for calicos.
Great story.
asiangrrlMN
@ChrisS: Jack is a doll, and Amiya and Aisha are so beautiful.
@jeffreyw: Oh, look at the poor little muffin. Glad to hear he’s doing better.
I keep looking at Sadie because she’s insanely beautiful.
Amylw
Love that kitty! She looks so strong and proud!
Linda O. Johnston
What a delightful story. It’s clear that Sadie chose her new family!