Max's Story

Max and Carrie have a nightly routine.

Carrie goes up the stairs; Max follows. 

Carrie lays down; Max jumps up on the bed, runs over, and nuzzles in.

Carrie's heart melts.

Max has always been Carrie's cat. This is the how they met.

It all goes back to horses.

Carrie bought her old horse, Chilly, when he was a baby. She bonded with him and raised him. At one point, my much younger wife decided she wanted to see Chilly's sire, Maxamillion. 

The farm was hours away. Carrie hopped in a car, made the drive, and showed up unannounced. The owner welcomed her. They talked about Chilly and went out so Carrie could meet his dad. Soon Maxamillion was in a circle arena on a lunge.

A tiny ball of fur raced out of the fields and began to chase the lunge whip. Carrie scooped up the kitten in a hurry. A couple of pounds of kitten are no match for a horse hoof.

Carrie held the kitten for as long as Maxamillion exercised. When they were done, Carrie put down the kitten.

The farm owner and Carrie went for a walk and talk. The kitten followed.

My wife noticed her new shadow. She asked the owner, "So what's the deal with this cat?"

The kitten was a stray. She had been rescued from a derelict barn. The owner didn't want her to become food for a larger animal, so she scooped her up. She already had numerous barn cats, and wanted to find the kitten a new home.

Carrie did not leave the farm empty-handed.

My wife had a dilemma, though. Grandma had made an ultimatum: no more girl cats. 

Carrie's solution: call the kitten Max. 

It was a play off Maxamillion and Grandma couldn't tell a boy cat from a girl cat. Dilemma solved!

Grandma stayed blissfully unaware that Max was really a girl until she was spayed. By then, everyone had bonded to the little cat. There was no going back!

Max has been with my wife since. She roamed Carrie's condo when I first visited my wife in Richmond. She patrolled the upper cabinets and refrigerator at my apartment. She walked the banister at our townhouse, and now she has first dibs on cuddles when my wife lays down (not that I'm too jealous). Max used to be a lot shyer around people, but she's always been an explorer and Carrie's girl.

She is also obsessed with paper and cardboard boxes. Standard cat, I suppose.

When I was first trying to figure out "What is with cats anyway?" I put a leash and harness on Max to "walk" her. It didn't work as planned, but I got to like the runt anyway.