In May my cat, Charlie, left home for an adventure. He was gone for two-and-a-half months before we got him back. During that time we made many trips to our county animal control facility. That’s where we met Oliver.

Oliver is a gray tabby like Charlie. Every time we went to animal control he was there in a large cage in the lobby. He was a lazy cat. All the activity and noise in that area didn’t interfere with his sleep.

On one of our trips looking for Charlie, I asked one of the employees what was wrong with that cat in the cage. Why was no one adopting him? The answer? He’s an adult and people want kittens.

I think kittens are incredibly cute, especially if you adopt two of them. That’s how Charlie and his sister, Barbara, came to us. We went through all the kitten issues like their climbing everything, including the clothes hanging my closet and bare legs.

Not knowing if we would ever get Charlie back and wanting a companion for Barbara, we adopted Oliver. For one thing, he was running out of time at animal control. For another, Barbara would have no patience with a kitten.

Incorporating Oliver into our household took some adjustment. He didn’t want to come out from under the bed for the first week we had him. Barbara didn’t like him. I had to bribe him with treats just to get close to him. But within a week, he jumped into my lap. It took a little longer before Barbara stopped growling and hissing at him.

Oliver is an adult but he’s about two years younger than Barbara, so he likes to play a lot. He pesters her until she chases him. She often puts herself in a position to be pestered. They have a good time.

We got Charlie back and had to re-incorporate him into the household. There were obstacles. Charlie had used up 8-7/8 lives and wasn’t in the mood for much of anything. Now, a month later, all three cats run through the house like a thundering herd.

Anyone considering cat adoption shouldn’t eliminate adult cats as an option. The excuse that you don’t know what the cat has been through is a poor argument. Shelters are up front about behavioral issues so the chances of getting a devil cat are not great. Oliver is livelier that we expected, but he’s also a lot more fun. Every time I see him, I smile. When he climbs into my lap and wiggles around as I pet him, I smile. When he plays with Barbara or Charlie, I laugh.