Dottie Doty - pretty kitty

I have never had a pet before. I adopted (or she adopted me, depending on how you look at it) my first four-footed child at the ripe old age of 51.  She had spent more than a year in a no-kill shelter and no one had adopted her. I had spent almost 6 months searching Pet-Finder.com for the "perfect" cat.

When I saw her, and noticed what her name was, I thought, this is meant to be. I have spent my whole life telling people that my name is Doty (sounds like dough-tea) NOT Doty (sounds like dottie). Guess what the cat's name was, you guessed it - DOTTIE! I did not name her that, she came with the name. She has a dot on the end of her nose, on her paws and a couple on her stomach - hence the name.

I have some mobility issues (sometimes need to walk with a cane) so I brought the cane with me to the shelter - all the cats EXCEPT for Dottie hid from it. She came up, sniffed it, rubbed against it and that was that. I think that we were meant for each other.

Dottie does NOT like to be held or brushed for that matter, however, she is definitely a lap cat. When I sit down, within 5 minutes, she's on my lap. It makes it difficult to read at times, but I have learned to adjust.

She greets me at the door when I come home at night - meowing like the world was ending. I was initially REALLY worried about her crying all day long. I talked with the next door neighbor about it. Teri eased my mind immediately telling me that she starts the minute she hears me coming up the stairs. How funny is that - guilt trip from a cat!
 
I have so many funny stories about her and the things that she does - I used to save them and send them off to my mom with pictures of her - she was always entertained by her "grand-cat". The day after Mom died, we had finished off all the funeral arrangements and were sitting at Dad's just trying to re-group. I had been up for almost 40 hours at that point and sat down in mom's chair to take a nap. In my mind, all I wanted was to be able to sleep and to have my cat in my lap. I leaned back in mom's chair and happened to look off to the side. There - hidden where no one could see it - was a picture of Dottie. I really think it was a little gift from Mom. It also made me happy to think that Dottie had given my mom pleasure and that she had saved that picture of her. 
 
What joy and happiness she has provided me in the time that I have had her. I finally GET how people can be so nuts about their animals. I LOVE HER so much. I'm hoping that I don't become a "crazy cat lady". I know that I am crazy about her.