Lazarus

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I have never met a kitty like Lazarus.  For those of you who don’t know the story of how we adopted him, here it is.  We were looking to add a new kitty to the family.  Since we already had 2 female cats (litter mates) we knew we wanted to get a male.  We also knew we wanted a lazy cat, so a kitten was out of the question.  So, where could we find an adult male cat?  Petfinder.com of course!  I highly recommend adopting an animal from a shelter or rescue as opposed to buying from a breeder.  Not that we haven’t done both.  However, there are SO many homeless animals out there that would make such wonderful, loving pets if they were just given the chance.  I will say that there are some good breeders out there, though, but finding them by weeding out the Backyard Breeders or Puppy Mills is a hard task.  Don’t EVER buy a puppy from a pet store.  Those are pretty much entirely puppy mill dogs, as any reputable breeder would NEVER sell their puppy to a pet store.  They would want to know where their puppy was going and that the home would be the best possible.  Ok, rant over.

Anyway, we searched on Petfinder for a day or so, and we kept coming back to Lazarus.  I have wanted an orange tabby cat ever since I saw the movie Milo and Otis, so we were trying to find one to adopt, but we just couldn’t find any that we really liked.  Lazarus’s story really captured our hearts.  He had been hit by a car and left in the road for dead.  Another car, thinking he was already dead, straddled him so that they basically drove straight over him with their tires on either side of him.  When they looked back, he lifted his head as if to say, “Hey I’m still alive!  Help me!”  They immediately stopped and brought him to the vet, where they worked diligently to save his life.  Amazingly he didn’t really have any scratches on him, but they think that he was mainly hit in the head, because he has some brain damage.  He was very wobbly when he walked, almost like he was drunk, and he still has very slow reflexes.  When we called about him, our first question was if he could still jump over things, because we have several baby gates up around the house for the dogs and we needed Lazarus to be able to jump over them like our other kitties do.  The vet assured us that he could, so we came to see him and immediately fell in love.  The first words out of my mouth when I saw him were “He’s so beautiful!”  We knew we had to adopt him.

When we brought him home, he was skin and bones.  You could prominently feel his ribs and his hips.  Now he is a healthy weight and definitely a character.  While he is still not as fast as the other cats, he has improved in so many areas.  His first couple months at our house he had to literally climb over the baby gates, and now he can jump over with ease.  He no longer walks with a wobble and he is able to hold his own when it comes to wrestling with the other cats.

Lazarus is our friendly cat.  Our other kitties will run and hide when we have company over, but not Lazarus.  The more attention he can get the better.  But watch your hands….he gives love bites when you’re not expecting it, but then licks afterward.  He is definitely the most vocal when it comes to food time and will be IN the food container as soon as I open it.  He gives the best snuggles.  Unlike our other cats who stiff arm you when you try to cuddle them when it’s not on their terms, Lazarus just melts into your arms like a baby doll.  Our life would not be the same without him.