This is Mike.

On Thursday, July 27th, I finished an Econ test I studied very hard for in under 40 minutes. For some reason I got it into my head to stop at the Humane Society to spend my extra time. The first thing I noticed was a ton of cute little kittens, which means there are older cats who would otherwise get adopted who probably wouldn't because of all the cute, little, crying, sleeping baby kittens. I asked the shelter personnel for help and they directed me to a pretty big, hairy 3 year old male named Bolton who had been at the shelter since May 30. When I got him out to play with him he sat on my lap. I put him on the floor to see what he would do and he put his paws back onto my lap crying for attention. I offered my keys out to him, he batted at them and my hand. I noticed he didn't use claws at all. I thought maybe he had been incorrectly marked as not declawed, but it turned out he just didn't use his claws.

So July 28, I officially adopted him. We went to the Vet before even going home. In looking at the cat they pointed out several of his unusual characteristics: hair tufts from his face, giving him a lynx-like appearence, tufts of hair between his toes, large, heavily furred legs and big feet. I should have known but didn't even think of it - I had brought home a Maine Coon cat.

The Maine Coon is actually a very special, very American breed. Unlike many purebred animals, they are not bred to look like an artificial idea of what an animal should look like. Only in the last 30 years have they began to be a purposely bred animal, reinforcing what nature has created within the breed - a big hardy cat who can handle anything with an un-catty charm.

Although Mike isn't a purebred, he definately has the characteristics of the purebred Maine Coon. He's a gorgeous, well mannered cat with a great personality. I'm very glad I had a chance to take him from the shelter before his time was up.