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When I moved to Florida, I found myself completely on my own for the first time and feeling the loneliness. I was working long hours, usually nights and on weekends, too, which didn't leave much time for socializing. So I thought, "Hey, get a pet!"

The problem was my long hours. I had grown up with a dog and I knew how much responsibility a dog was, but a cat... a cat was pretty self-sufficient. It cleaned itself, used the litter box, and on those long nights, I could just put food out, knowing the cat would eat when hungry. The only problem was, I knew little else about cats!

My search for knowledge eventually brought me to Jackson Galaxy's "My Cat From Hell", and so when my friends finally drove me out to the shelter, I felt prepared. It was Adopt for Free month and I knew I wanted a little gray tabby.

Having never been in an animal shelter before, I was quickly overwhelmed. There were so many cats, and I didn't even know where to start. As I paced down the rows, looking for that little gray tabby, my eye caught on one rather vocal occupant. He was nose to toes black, rubbing across the front of his cage saying, "Hey you! Look over here! Come and say hi to me!"

He was friendly, and when I held him, he immediately started purring and didn't let up until I put him back. There were two problems. He was a boy (I had some experience with territorial boy cats) and he was a stray (so they knew absolutely nothing about him). I passed him by to look at that cute little tabby in the corner.

But as I held the other cats and felt their anxiety, I kept thinking back to that first cat, how he said, "Hey! I'm right here! I'm your cat!" I ended up adopting my 3-year old black cat and named him Nox. He's a ball of energy, a chatterbox, my biggest critic, and my constant shadow, and I love him for it.

Story submitted by Katie from Orlando, Florida. 

This story was originally shared on The Animal Rescue Site. Share your very own rescue story here!