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Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Why she adopted her favorite feline friend Lapka.

Welcome Sandra Kofler, Love Dem Cats’ second guest blogger. Sandra’s Facebook statuses about her cat, Lapka, are famous, and this week she gets to give a big Guideposts shoutout to her favorite feline friend.

If you’d like to take center stage some upcoming week, just send us your blog post along with pix of your furry friend(s), and you could be featured in our blog!

Cats have always been this gal’s best friends.

So you’d think it might have taken me less than 14 years to get a new cat after my childhood pet, Sam, died. But Sam was a special case, you see.

Sam was known to transform, Jekyll-and-Hyde-style, from happy kitty to evil grump, attacking with bites and scratches seemingly out of nowhere. Sometimes all I’d have to do was walk into a room for my ankles to become his new prey.

And I was still a kid. It got so bad that at one point, a teacher saw how scratched up my legs were and asked my parents to come in for a talk. The insane cat story was a new one, even for her!

Fast-forward to last August. I’d always wanted another cat, but I was understandably concerned when I contacted TLC Rescue in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Would my new furry friend be a meanie? Would I be able to tell just by playing with him or her for a few minutes?

As it turned out, my fears were totally unfounded. All the TLC cats were darlings. And when I met Lapka, I just knew: this striking, scrawny kitty didn’t have a diva bone in her body.

The former alley cat (I imagined her spending nights fighting for her dinner) warmed right up to me, rubbing her cheek gently on my leg and flashing her golden eyes as if to say, “Take me home, Ma!”

The rest, as they say, is history.

Sam may not have been the nicest fella, but the truth is that I loved him anyway, for better or for worse. What can I say? I’m really just a cat person.

It’s now been a year since Lapka officially moved in. Not only does she make our home a warmer place, but I know that when I walk in the door I’m going to be greeted by a pal who’s always happy to see me. And I wonder what took me so long to find her.

                                                                        —Sandra Kofler, guest blogger

We want to hear all about your cats! Email us at lovedemcats@guideposts.org

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