Cyrus the Great

Meet Cyrus, named after the king who founded the Persian Empire. We had been talking about getting a third cat for a few months before Nero's untimely passing, and then this ridiculous looking, super affectionate little guy fell into our laps from a shelter in Ras Al Khamiah. He is a three year old Persian/Turkish Angora mix. I think he looks like the costume department made a mistake and gave him the wrong outfit, as he has the body and face of a Persian, just in a Turkish Angora coat. Either that or an Ewok. And we know, we know how similar in colour he and Ovid look - we really didn't mean to get matching cats, it just happened that way and they couldn't be more different in personality.

It was quite an adventure getting him as Ras is a six hour round trip and the shelter was so poorly marked and in the middle of nowhere, that we never would have got there without our trusty GPS. It was dark by the time we got near by and weren't really sure we were going the right way as we turned off the highway, drove through the closed animal souk, and then onto another unlit road. From there our GPS announced that we had arrived, but we couldn't see any buildings. Peering into the darkness, I spotted a small sign for the shelter by a gate and a road that looked like it dropped into a pit. Down we went on a very rocky trail, around a hairpin bend, through a labor camp, then past another gate further down still until we finally got there.

It was a foregone conclusion that we were going to take him from the moment we sat down in his cage, as he climbed right into my lap and was purring all over us. But in order to take him, we had to do a donation to the shelter, for which they only took cash. Of course. Having no idea where we would find an ATM, one of the shelter guys agreed to come with us to show us the way. So, with the cat waiting for us, unhappy in his crate, up the crazy road we went to find the cash machine at the closest petrol station. And while getting money, Matthew noticed that our tire was flat which is hardly surprising given the K2 mountain road we had just taken. Thank goodness for some willing guys at the gas station who had a bit of better tire kit than the crappy jack in the back of our car and had it sorted in about 5 minutes. It would have taken us a lot, lot longer than that.

Back down the expedition road, money paid, shelter guy dropped off and cat in car, we headed home. He was not happy being in the crate, so we let him out and he promptly climbed into my lap for the rest of the ride. I've had more than a few cats in my time, but I have never had one who was so comfortable so quickly. Eric spent the first week I had him hiding under the stove, Nero sat with his face shoved  into the corner behind a radiator for a fortnight and Ovid spent his first few weeks firmly lodged under the TV cabinet. So this cat is one off - this photo was taken from his first morning exploring the living room. Doesn't seem too concerned, does he?