A few weekends ago, I went home for the weekend with a main goal in mind: to help my mom pick out a kitten. Since I am the last child to leave the roost, and my parents’ only daughter, they were truly feeling the effects of Empty Nest Syndrome. So my mother scoured the internet in her free time trying to find some cute kittens. She took particular interest in the Bengal cat breed, and after one close call with scammer demanding $500 on the spot, we connected with a man that was selling eight Bengal kittens in Maryland.
For some background, Bengal cats are basically this wild breed of a cat that’s a cross between a wild Asian leopard cat and a domestic cat. Their body structure resembles less of your typical household cat and more of a leopard, with a long abdomen, powerful haunches, and a small head. Behaviorally, Bengal cats have been shown to reflect the behavior of the people or animals around them. They love to play in water and can be taught to go on walks like a dog. They’re extremely energetic and playful like that of a puppy, but extremely gentle when necessary.
With this basic profile, I buckled into my mom’s car and drove three hours to Maryland. I don’t mind car rides or spending time with my mom, so the time passed easily. We show up to this guy’s house and he has a plethora of animals; chickens, goats, several dogs, puppies, and then of course the Bengal cats and their kittens. He lets us into the room in which I have since deemed “Heaven” due to its inhabitants: eight, extremely tiny, extremely hyper and adorable kittens.
We wanted a kitten that was calm but still energetic and playful. One that was already trusting and not skittish or too crazy.
I sat on the ground and let all the kittens run around me and watched their behavior.
This little one was adorable as HELL, but we wanted a boy kitten and she was a little too crazy and didn’t like being held.
This kitten was as chill as can be but he didn’t really play well with the other cats and hid in a corner for most of the time.
Eventually, one of the kittens started to really take a liking to us. He was super calm when we held him and he fell asleep in my hands twice, and he was jumping around and being playful afterwards. When he fell asleep in my lap for a third time, I looked up at my mom and I could tell she was sold on the decision too. We got in the car and I kept him on my lap the entire drive home. He slept a ton, meowed for a solid hour straight, and was a complete mush.
We named him Leo when he got home, and it turns out he was born on August 9th – which makes him an actual Leo in terms of zodiac signs.
He already follows my mom around the house and has clearly filled the empty space in her heart with me going away to college.
I’m pretty sure I’ve been replaced, but when it’s by a kitten this cute, I can’t complain.