Fomi the Cat

I wanted to take a moment to remember our time with Fomi the cat. A couple of months ago, a church member posted that he was looking for someone to house his cat temporarily while he was looking for jobs and housing. While we currently don’t own any cats, we are somewhat experienced cat owners (having owned two in the past). We also figured this would be fun for Amos, who enjoys playing with animals.

Initially, after she was dropped off at our place, she was kind of shy. She hid beneath cabinets and dressers a lot, coming out only for food. But after a day or so, the shyness subsided and she started exploring the house.

Fomi was a wonderful cat. I’ve always been partial to calico cats (Jelly was a calico cat too!). But beyond the beautiful fur pattern was a very mild temperament. She liked to sleep in our bed, but she didn’t keep us up at night. She wasn’t constantly attacking her feeder. She put up with Amos’ grabby hands as we were trying to teach him to be gentle. She wasn’t always trying to steal our food. I think both Veronica and I have wonderful memories of Fomi sleeping on top of us, so that we did not dare move lest she wake up and move somewhere else. Most cats enjoy head scratches, but she really liked aggressive butt slaps for some reason.

My favorite memories of Fomi involve her playing with Amos. She had a little ball with an electric motor that would randomly change directions, to simulate a scurrying mouse. By the end of the first week, she had broken the fake tail off the ball, but that did not stop her and Amos from running around chasing the ball together. The memory of the laughter from those hours with the ball is something I will cherish for a long time.

I hope someday to be able to own another cat. In this season of life, it’s difficult to manage both a toddler and a cat, so that hope will have to wait. But for this past month, Fomi truly brought joy to our lives.