Diego loves being outside in his yard – that’s where his personality shines.  (Check out the “Catnip” post if you missed it.)

Here is Diego’s story as told by his owner: “We went to the shelter to get one black kitten.   Nita was in a cage with another kitten.  She was very tiny and looked like an artist’s rendering of the perfect all black kitten – - very delicate, with wide open eyes and a shiny coat.  The tech handed her to us … she purred.  What a sweet thing … we were completely charmed and looked no further.  She was our kitty.

On our way out we passed by her cage and saw the “other cat” more clearly.  It was hard to believe that this was her brother.  His fur was scruffy and of varying lengths and he had long hairs coming out of his ears.  He looked like a hobo kitty.  Who would want such a raggedy looking kitten?  He gave my heart strings a good tug as if to say “if you don’t take me, I’m toast.”  And thus Nita *and* D iego came to make four in our black cat family.

To our surprise, Diego turned into a beautiful medium hair cat.  He’s a gentle soul and purrs every time you come near him.  When my six year old granddaughter picks him up,  he’ll dangle there patiently for a while and then start to wriggle free never revealing his claws.

Unfortunately, he suffers from a severe heart defect that occurs most often in black, long hair cats.  The vet told us that this was a serious life-shortening condition with no cure.  Diego makes it easy for us to administer his twice daily medications.  Sometimes I’ll just show him the droppers and he’ll jump up on the counter ready to go.  (It probably helps that he gets food after each dose.)

We love him so much.  One can’t help but smile upon seeing that face with those long hairs still sticking out of his ears.  Nita is the pretty little thing that we expected and a delight in her own way.  But it is Diego who stole our hearts and holds them still.”

I really love his profile!

And this is Diego’s big brother, Jose, who kept an eye on us the whole time.

Have a great Friday!

(More of Diego in the next post)