Loving the World’s Worst Cat

Most animal lovers have either read Marley and Me or seen the movie of the same name. For those of you who haven’t heard of Marley and Me, it’s a true story about a recently married young couple, John and Jenny Grogan, who are contemplating having a baby, but decide to get a puppy first. They choose Marley, a rambunctious Labrador puppy who destroys their house, is kicked out of obedience school, and earns the reputation as the world’s worst dog. This lovable story shows that throughout the ups and downs of life, the world’s worst dog actually brings out the best in the Grogans and their family.

Although I never read the book, everyone kept telling me that as an animal lover, I had to see the movie. Knowing how the story ends, it took me awhile before I could bring myself to watch it. However, after I saw the movie once, I kept watching it over and over. I felt that I could relate and identify with this story. Although I grew up with dogs, ever since I’ve been out of college, the only pets I’ve ever owned have been cats. In fact, I adopted my first two kittens within a few months of being hired to work at the Michigan Humane Society 14 years ago. Maybe it was because I was in my early twenties at the time and had more energy, or maybe it was because I lucked out and happened to adopt two of the best behaved kittens in the world, but back then, raising kittens seemed like a piece of cake. I always lived in apartments that only allowed two cats, so I never considered adopting another one. It wasn’t until one of my cats died suddenly from a heart attack two years ago that I considered getting another one. That’s when I adopted Sushi from an area animal shelter. I didn’t know it at the time, but just as Marley was the world’s worst dog, Sushi was the world’s worst cat.

As part of my job at Animal Adoption Solutions, I go into shelters and photograph adoptable pets to be published across various forms of media. Since I work three jobs, I usually don’t have too much time to spare; I go into shelters, get to know the pets so I can appropriately write up their stories and descriptions of their personalities, I take their photo, and I leave. Having worked in the animal welfare business many years, I’ve learned it’s best to not get too attached to the animals. But then came Sushi. I walked in to take his photo and he rolled over immediately for me to rub his belly. Of course I had to get to know him better, so I sat down to pet him and he instantly crawled on my lap. He was cute as could be and I knew he’d be adopted quickly. So I took his photo and moved on. A few days later I came back to take more photos of other animals and I was surprised to see that Sushi was still there. The next week was no different. Finally, I decided that I had to get to know this kitty better. I spent quite a bit of time with him and became so fond of him; I brought my husband to meet him. As soon as Sushi fell asleep in my husband’s arms, we decided that we had to adopt him.