Charlie Bear

by Melissa

I became the proud owner of my Charlie Bear back in last November. Next door to my work is a locally owned pet shop that gladly takes in any and all animals.

While at work I heard whispers that a set of kittens had been dropped off earlier that morning. My boss knowing that I was struggling with my decision to return my rabbit to the store urged me to go check them out.

There were three kittens, all orange and white but clearly not from the same litter. Two were very tiny and adorable, but their fur was rough, while the third was much larger and had the softest fur I've ever seen.

He also had tuffs of fur that stood out past his base coat all over which made him cute in a strange way. It took me over an hour to make my decision but I went with the bigger guy.

I was scared at first bc at the store he seemed more interested in everything else but me, but ultimately I went with him bc of the three he was flea free. This could not have been a better decision!

As soon as I got home, he settled in quick and cuddled up the rest if the night. My roommate was amazed at how quick he settled into our lives. Over the first week I owned him friends came over and commented on just how friendly he was to everyone. I couldn't have been a prouder mommy!

Since I have owned him, more and more of his possible Coon appearance and personality has come out. First off, he grew so fast! At just under a year old, he already weighs in at a whopping 15 lbs!

Past that, he does have the rectangular shaped body, large tuffed ears, fluffy long tail, lion-style mane, shaggy fur and tuffs of fur in his feet. For me, the fur on the feet is what makes me truly believe he is a coon. I thought there was something wrong with him until I read that it is a common trait among coons.

Personality wise, Charlie is the sweetest animal you will ever meet. He's my cuddle bear. I call him my codependent cat bc he always wants to be around people. If I have to leave town for the night, I will come home to a full bowl bc he misses me so much and refuses to eat. For this reason, I cannot leave him at home for too long alone. It's not a bother though bc he is amazing on car trips, more like a dog than a cat.

Around the house he's my clutzy comedian. Just yesterday he jumped from the couch to the table and completely missed. It was hilarious! He's always doing things like that though. Running so fast that he misses a step and embarrasses himself.

My favorite quality about Charlie is the fact that he doesn't have any desire to go outside unless he's in his carrier with me. My last cat could not move out of my parents with me bc she does not share this quality. One time my roommates bf left the door open all night. I woke up the next morning to Charlie guarding the open door. All he did was look at me and meow, "Momma." I know it's weird but truly when he meows its either, "momma," or "hello." He's quite the talker. Another quality I now realize could be from his Coon background.

The only thing that upsets me about Charlie is now I feel as though I may have someone else's pet. There have always been several questions about him that no one has been able to answer. Firstly, he was dropped off with two other kittens that had fleas, and seemed to be strays. However, he was clearly not a stray and did not have fleas. In fact, I later discovered that he was already neutered. A fact that even surprised the vet.

Now it seems more that he was natured young bc of his breed. It would seem that maybe Charlie got away from his family somehow and was just turned over to the pet store... I can't imagine that the original owner would have him neutered then give him up, especially if he's a Coon.

From what I now read, he is most likely a rather pricey little guy. I guess in the end though, whomever his family was didn't think to put flyers up in the pet store or I would have seen so I shouldn't feel too horrible that I got such an amazing animal for absolutely free.

I attracted a few pics of my little man and hope that maybe someone can shed some light on the questions I have about where Charlie came from. Thanks for reading!