One week of Clark down. Many more to go. Here’s what we’ve learned about him so far…

Likes
Lounging on monitors
Laundry fresh from the dryer
Little toys that look like mice
Waking people up at 4 in the morning
The heating pad under his cage

Dislikes
Vacuums
Salmon and/or shrimp flavored fancy feast
Being held to take medicine
Getting his nails clipped

Clark and I made our first trip to the vet today. There were two reasons for going, first the breeder required it, just for a health inspection by my breeder, and also because kittens can get sick from all the stress of a new home. In fact, clark had been doing a little coughing and sneezing.

Everyone at the vet loved clark, he had assistants coming to see him from other rooms. The doctor prescribed some medicine for him just to hopefully knock out whatever he came down with. She was wonderful.

Clark was funny at the vet. He didnt want to sit still because he wanted to check out the room we were in, he kept wanting to hop down to the floor, and was too busy looking all over the place to let the vet check him out.

In the beginning, clark didn’t like to take his medicine. In fact, like a true cat, he doesn’t like to be forced to do anything. His cage is fine, as long as he’s not locked in there, medicine tastes good, as long as I’m not restraining him while giving it to him. The bathroom is even more interesting because we usually keep the door closed, so he goes in there whenever he gets a chance.

My search took me all over the midwest, and I came across a breeder in Ohio. After a couple long and interesting conversations, I was sold. I put a deposit down, and had to wait an entire month and a half before my kitten could come home and I would drive out to see him.

As soon as I walked in, Clark and his mother were all over me. They were not shy about wanting to be petted, and wanting to check out the cool stuff I brought with me. Clark loved to play around with another kitten, one they called mouse. She was 5 months older than him, but weighed the same.

I could tell he was the cat for me, so we did all the paperwork, and they gave me tons of advice and free stuff to take home, and that was that. Clark was mine, and we had a 5 hour adventure in the car back to chicago.

The trip home was a breeze; Clark did some wonderfully funny things, like putting his paws up on the door and watching out the windows (like a dog would), climbing in behind the steering wheel and sitting in the little hole were all my gauges are, and also letting out a big ahhhh after I gave him some water at a rest stop. Most of the time he was content to just purr and sleep in my lap, stretching out comfortably every once in a while. I can already tell we’re going to make a good pair.

Around the end of January I started looking for a cat to replace the one I didn’t get to see anymore cause of a breakup. The cat was a sphynx, which is the breed of cat that looks like it’s shaven (they actually do have fur, it’s just really fine. Our sphynx had some hair, making it more like another breed, the devon rex. So I started looking for devon rexes.

Devon rexes are a funny breed. They have short curly hair, that is nice and soft. The two most striking features of Devon Rex are their curly coats and their pixie faces. Many people describe a Devon Rex as looking like Yoda from “Star Wars” or one of the Gremlins from the movies of that name. Their coats sometimes are described as looking like a Persian lamb coat.

They love to be with you, and to ‘help’ you do all sorts of activities, from reading to cleaning the house. If you are seated, you will generally have a Devon in your lap. If you are standing, you may have one on your shoulder, if you are lying down, you will generally have one keeping you company.

Many Devons learn tricks! Lots of them will fetch toys and are so obsessive about the game that you will tire before they do. Many like to jump from the floor to your shoulder and ride there.