Duke

Hello human subjects, I am Duke the regal eleven year young black and gray tabby. Now, I know that some people think we royals are spoiled brats, but I am here to show you that even though we can be privileged, we too can have some terrible things happen to us like anyone else and can be worthy of sympathy and love. At least I am: I’ll be the first to admit that some of my royal relatives are full-on crazy and spoiled, but not me. Admittedly, I was leading a pretty good life. As a young boy, I was living at MaxFund when I was adopted by a nice woman who loved me and wanted the responsibility of having a Duke around for life. I thought it would be forever as that’s what I was promised, but when I started to have some health issues, which caused me to pee outside of my litterbox, she broke her vows and returned me to MaxFund. It was a horrible shock for me. When I was first here ten years ago, I was young, beautiful, and playful, so people were clamoring to have me be a part of their lives, but now, I am older, slower, and ignored by most of the potential adopters who come into the shelter. I went from having a castle to roam, in which I was spoiled and cared for, to living in an apartment here at the shelter in a room with other older cats—we were like a cat retirement community, and like other retirement communities we have good times and bad times. Because I am shy, I kept myself to myself and chose not to interact with many cats or people. That probably was not great for my mental health, and I became pretty sad. Things have started to turn for me. I am on an easy-to-find anti-stress diet, which seems to be helping. Also, I have moved into a larger two-bedroom apartment in another room at the shelter, and while it is still an older community, I feel so much more comfortable and am coming out of my shell. People comment on how sweet and loving I am and have noticed that I will play with a wand toy when they are in front of me and get cuddles when a lap presents itself. I know I will cease to be depressed when I find a human with patience and love to give to an older gentleman like me. It might be best to have me as an only cat for a while or at least give me a small, secure area in my home away from other cats, in order to acclimate to my new place, but then I will be your loving companion for the rest of my life, and you can brag to your friends that you live with a real Duke. I might not be as young and cute as my cousin Harry, but who wants to deal with all that paparazzi?