Gaston is our Guest.
We adopted him from the local shelter, which most appropriately named him, after he was surrendered as a homeless stray last winter. He was not in good shape, with a severe respiratory ailment, no chip, no history, and no known owner. Being an 8-10-year-old middle-to-old male surrounded by a sea of extra cute kittens, he was an unlikely candidate with little hope for adoption.
He had been hanging out in a nice woman’s backyard for months or more, hoping to find a new home. But alas, she already had too many and could not take him in. She had tried to find his home and return him, but no one came forward. His persistence amongst the long cold nights and rain was not without notice, and thankfully (for us) being a volunteer at the shelter, she finally decided to surrender him. We had seen her lost cat posts in hopes it was our much-loved older Himalayan who had been missing for over a year. Based on a rather poor picture she had taken on a rainy night, we contacted her.
After another month or more, she informed us that he was recovering and would be up for adoption in a few weeks at which point, we arranged to visit him in his ‘jail cell.’ Being an ‘experienced’ (not elderly please) couple, we did not want to adopt a young animal who might outlive us and again be an orphan. Once there, after a spontaneous long and affectionate lap snuggle with the ‘better half’ (who was thoroughly smitten,) there was no question Gaston would have a new home.
Two weeks later, the shelter determined he was well enough to be adopted. It was a big day for him and for us. With some trepidation and apprehension, we made the commitment, and he also seemed OK with it, so home we went. That was seven months ago. Maybe the best seven months ever!
To us, he was just a wonderful big boy settling into a new home with strangers. To him, it was a bit stressful and new. And, while we were all getting acquainted, there were some things he had to sort out while he got used to becoming ‘the boss.’ His magnificent beauty (handsomeness for a boy) and significant size caused us to wonder something, if not anything at all, about him. Sure, he was just a stray. But not your ordinary, if there are any, stray cats. The beautiful silky coat and full white mane. The distinguished white mustache. The big blue eyes. The mitted white paws and knee-high socks were unusual for a seal point cat. And the size… nearly 20 pounds! The shelter thought he was overweight but he did not seem obese.
Ultimately, after some dutiful research, we found that he must be a Ragdoll. It really didn’t matter to us as we adopted him unknowing or caring about his heritage. But, thanks to your wonderful website, we have found how special he really is. His unusual behavior, intelligence, and magnificent presence are simply beyond words, and now it all makes so much sense.
He would say he deserves to have such a wonderful home. We can only say how lucky we are to share our lives with him.
Every day is a blessing, and now the ’guest’ has his forever home—hopefully, for many years to come!
Submit Your Cat Story
Ragdoll of the Week or Floppycat of the Week on Floppycats isn’t a contest or really a selection process – as long as you follow these guidelines (that keep us sane), and submit your story and photos in full, your kitty will be next in line for Ragdoll of the Week or the Floppycat of the Week. If you are interested in submitting your kitty as Cat of the Week, we welcome you to share stories and photos of your cat or cats with us and Floppycats.com’s readers.
We know that not every Floppycats.com reader has a Ragdoll cat. And we’re not Ragdoll cat exclusive, so we started a Floppycat of the Week so that readers who don’t have Ragdolls could share their kitties too! Or readers with Ragdolls and other kinds of kitties, could share their whole house of kitties individually.
Read more on how to share your cat story.
Hi, I’m Jenny Dean, creator of Floppycats! Ever since my Aunt got the first Ragdoll cat in our family, I have loved the breed. Inspired by my childhood Ragdoll cat, Rags, I created Floppycats to connect, share and inspire other Ragdoll cat lovers around the world,
