Not An Elephant, But As Noisy As One

My husband and I had planned on getting a cat, we just didn't expect it so soon. But well, things happen. It's March 2020, we're engaged, we've just managed to move the tiny house we bought into my parent's backyard. And the week before we had watched a nature documentary about elephants on Disney+. This will be important later.

My older sister, Chloe, has lots of pets: dogs and cats and rodents of all kinds. But sometimes they don't always get along. Such was the case with Po'corn (It's Popcorn, but my nephew Dexter couldn't quite say the second P). She was being bullied by the other cats. They chased her around the house, attacked her, and ate her food. She was a very small cat, just 3 years old, white and gray, pink nose, and oh so fluffy. Chloe had been trying to find a new home for Po'corn for a while because she simply couldn't stay where she was. She was underweight and sick. But Chloe was having little luck.

BUT my tiny house was now available. My mother, as mothers do, wouldn't let me get my own cat unless it didn't live in her house. They are a hassle, shed on everything, and cost money. But, my tiny house was now available. So we took her in.

I remember the excitement and jitters of the day she was coming home. I was thinking of what to name her all day, as my fiance (now husband) and I agreed, the name Po'corn wasn't going to cut it for us. Work wasn't as bad that day, because I had a cat I was coming home to, and nothing could ruin it.

Chloe brought her in a kennel that we set in the house. We opened the door and backed up to see what she would do. This I did not expect. She ran out of the kennel as fast as she could and found her way into the corner of the bathroom behind the toilet. Where she stayed.

She was terrified to be in a new place. Her favorite places to hide were between the refrigerator and the wall, behind the toilet, and upstairs in the loft underneath the side table. Oh how far she's come.

She was ours now. She was safe, free from bullying and free to eat as much as she needed (and she gained weight pretty fast). And now we needed to name her. This is where the elephant documentary comes in. The baby elephant was named Jomo. In the course of the 40 or minutes of the documentary, we became so attached to this little playful elephant. And so we named her Jomo, becoming attached just as quickly. She's not an elephant, but soon we found out that she was just as noisy as one.

After a week, Jomo wasn't so skittish anymore. She let us pet her. She hung around in the open. She knew when feeding time was.

After 2 weeks, she would sit on my lap as I watched TV. She would lounge on the counter and look out the window.

After 3 weeks, I got super excited. She finally felt comfortable enough to play. I flung the toy around erratically and she went nuts. Zooming this way and that having the time of her life. Oh, I was so happy. That day Jomo started to play and she hasn't stopped since.

She was now healthy, happy, and comfortable.

Living in a tiny house works well for her. The stairs to our upstairs loft are her cat tree. Her perch at the top is her favorite place to sit and watch us move about. She comes down one step at a time.. hop hop hop, but zooms up the steps in half a second flat. When we leave the door open she sits right at the doorstep and peers out at the world.

Every morning, when she hears us start to stir, she runs to us, meowing loudly. Every morning she will come to us, I will reach out my finger to pet her. She licks a couple times, then she bites. Then she licks, then she bites.

Every night when we come home and turn on the light, she's loudly meowing with squinty eyes, the light too bright after being in the dark.

Jomo brings us continuous joy like only a cat can. She is our faithful fluffy companion. We just passed the one-year mark, but it feels like Jomo has always been a part of our lives.