Buster and Thor’s Story

From Nine Lives Foundation in Redwood City, California

Here is a story from an adoption in December from Nine Lives Foundation from 11-year-old Annelise Hendrickson.

Wap, wap, wap. Buster and Thor sit on our cedar chest, attacking backpack strings, while Jill watches at a distance. Jack and Jill, our two eight-year-old cats, have started getting used to Buster and Thor, who are now almost four-months-old. Jack is excited to have new playmates, as Jill never plays with him; and Jill is happy that Jack no longer bugs her. Buster and Thor are happy to have a new playmate and are starting to understand that Jill isn’t as interested in playing as Jack is. None of this would have happened though, if I hadn’t answered one question almost two months ago.

“What would I have to give you that would make you take Spanish?” my mom asked me one day when I came home from school. My mom had been trying to persuade me to take Spanish for months, because although it was impractical, I had wanted to take French.

I pondered her question for a second before replying, “I want kittens.” I had wanted kittens for years, and I would ask her now and then, but the answer always seemed to be no. She sighed, and after consulting with my dad, she told me we could get a kitten after Thanksgiving break.
During any free time, I looked online at animal shelters and kittens. I remembered my friend telling me about an amazing cat shelter where she had gotten her beloved cat Tiger. I looked up the cat shelter and clicked on the “Kitten Adoption” page. I read about their adoption policy that any kitten under five months had to be adopted in a pair. I was disappointed and proceeded to beg my parents for two kittens.

They told me we could talk about it after the break, so I waited, impatient. As soon as the break was over, I asked again for two kittens. After looking at many different sources that confirmed that yes, adopting a pair of kittens was better, my parents relented. We decided that the best time to adopt kittens would be over winter break, so while we waited, we set up a room for the kittens to stay in while they adjusted to the new house and new cats.

After what seemed like forever to me (but was only about three weeks), winter break finally came. As soon as school ended (it was a minimum day, so school ended at 12:25), we left for Nine Lives in search of a pair of kittens.

When we entered, a woman showed us multiple different kittens, and we browsed until we found a pair in a carrier with their foster mom. One was an orange tabby, and the other a gray Siamese tabby mix. According to the foster mom, they had been exposed to both dogs and other cats, so we decided to say hello to them in a small room, with the intent of seeing other pairs of kittens also, so we could decide which ones we wanted.

The room was filled with the scents of other cats, and terrified the gray Siamese tabby mix, Thor, into hiding under the table. The orange tabby, Buster, on the other hand, was excited to explore everything and was almost always on the move. The foster mom assured us that both kittens would be fine as soon as they were used to their surroundings.

After playing with Buster for a little while, we decided we should see more kittens, so my mom went out to ask a volunteer. As soon as she left, though, my sister Kendra and I decided it would be way too hard to choose between kittens. Kendra bounded out, and just as my mom was asking to see another set of kittens, Kendra told her that we were adopting Buster and Thor.

We went through with the paperwork confirming that we wanted to adopt Buster and Thor, placed them in our carrier and headed home. As soon as we arrived home, we knew their foster mom was right. Both Buster and Thor were extremely playful and friendly.

Now here they are, almost a month later, curled up on a rocking chair in their forever home after a long day of playing.