Happy birthday, Dimitri! :D

Today is Dimitri's 5th birthday! I can't believe it's been so long since I adopted him! This is what he looked like after a few days I brought him home :D.
 

He had arrived at the shelter a couple of days before I went to adopt a kitty. There were lots of cats up for adoption, 3 or 4 of which were Dimitri's siblings. They were all playing all over the place except for him. Dimitri was alone lying on a pet bed that looked huge, only because he was so tiny :). When I saw him there all lonely, under a sewing machine (that's where the bed was), I knew I had to get him! :D I wanted to adopt his mother too, but she had already been adopted by someone else.

He got used to my house (in Buenos Aires) and my family pretty fast. He liked being in my bedroom and going to the attic ...

 

... Where he played hide and seek, haha.

He kind of started owning the house right from the very beginning.

 

On his first Christmas, he bought me a super cute calculator with a tiny card that said something like this: "Thank you for having rescued me from the filthy streets" + a picture of a paw (as his signature). ... Yeah, my mom was that cool!

Dimitri is like no other cat because he's the last cat I've own that my mom got to meet. And, oh, by the way, that calculator is one of the few very precious objects I brought with me from Argentina.

 I've always spoiled him a lot because he totally deserves it ;). 

When I met David and we started talking about my moving to California, it was tough to decide what to do with Dimitri. I knew I wanted him with me, but at the same time, my dad loved him and he was dealing with having lost his wife, that is my mom, of course. 

For those who don't know it, my dad had a stroke 6 years ago so he's not able to speak or move much; plus his mind is sometimes there and sometimes it's just ... who knows where. So it was hard to make up my mind, but I decided to bring him here because I didn't want to leave my sister another big responsibility.

It was overwhelming to deal with all the paperwork and airlines, but I hired an agency who helped me big time. He left Buenos Aires a few hours before me, had a layover in Houston and finally got to LAX. I, on the contrary, got to Burbank, Ca, via Dallas. It all worked out ok and after a couple of weeks, he finally felt comfortable being in our new home.

He's gotten used to having a brother.

 And he got used to being outdoors. We first introduced him to the outside world with a leash but he only used it twice, I think.

He spends most of the day outside now; he freaking loves the garden!

He really made it easier for me to adapt to a whole new country; he's a rad cat! :D I'm SO happy to have him with me! 

Happy 5th birthday, you rascal! You rock! ;D

I don't want to finish this post without writing some info about the shelter where I adopted Dimitri from. Sandra is its founder and she's been struggling to rescue and keep as many kitties as possible. The shelter does not receive any help from the government or any organization, all the kitties there rely on people's help. So, if you happen to be in Buenos Aires and would like to help, you can do so by donating cat food and litter. Anything will help! ;). Thanks a lot!

Hogar de Rescate y Proteccion Lourdes

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