I haven’t technically accomplished this goal … yet.

But I’m in the process. Actually, I’ve been in the process for years. Every once in a while I’d send an email to random breeders inquiring about the breed and whether or not they’d have any kittens available soon. Until recently, it never went beyond emails.

Again, like so many times before, I began searching for breeders and soon I found one that was somewhat local and had kittens available. Before I knew what I was doing I had sent them a down payment to secure a kitten for myself. I have a tendency to grab opportunities when they present themselves and sometimes I forget I now have someone else to consult with in these types of decisions. Marie was less than impressed by my decision to buy a kitten. What I thought would be a happy announcement turned out to be a huge disappointment to her.

I’d always had a cat when I was a child, so to me, having a kitten didn’t feel like a big deal. But for her, it was a decision that she felt should have been made by both of us. I still have a lot to learn about relationships I guess. I did my best to convince her that having a cat is not the same as having a baby. I’m not sure I did a very good job of it but she seemed to be less upset with me after a couple of days. Maybe she forgot about the kitten. I should remind her.

When we went to meet the kittens, the first thing that struck me about them was how friendly and playful they are. Most cats run and hide when strangers are around but not the Sphynx. Almost as soon as I sat down, one of them crawled up onto my shoulder and just sat there rubbing its face on my beard. I wasn’t quite expecting that but it’s what I want from a pet. We spent about an hour visiting with the kittens and talking with the breeder, who runs a small program with her family pets. It was important to me not to just find a kitten but to source them from a breeder who has concern for their animals and isn’t just doing it for the money. After visiting with them I knew I found the right place.

When Marie and I left we discussed the kittens and what she wanted. Since she didn’t have a say in whether or not we were going to get a kitten, I wanted her to at least be a part of which kitten we brought home. The one that I’d originally picked out was an all white kitten named Jasper. We both agreed that we liked the ones with darker coloration on their ears, nose and tail. I called the breeder and let them know that I would be giving up my kitten so I could have first pick of the next litter.

The next litter has finally been born and I just got the first pictures today of the kitten that they expect to have the coloration we want (Aslan.) Even though it looks pretty plain now, they don’t really start to show their color patterns for a few weeks. If he has the right colors, we’ll be keeping him and if not, we will wait for the next litter.