Hello, this is the story of Briar.
We adopted him sometime inFebruary 2008. People at the shelter estimated him to be about 6 months old but no one knows for sure. His eyes still looked cloudy in a grayish-emerald shade like they weren't fully developed. How I even ended up at the shelter was another story. Our in-tact feral cat "Kit" who adopted us a few winters ago went missing. So I took a couple trips to the SPCA to see if he ended up there. We never did find Kit.
The first time I saw Briar, he was in the likeness of Kit, only cuter, and fuzzier. Kit was a gnarly 15lb cat with a huge head who would bring gifts of rabbits to my doorstep. Briar was about 4 lbs and when I walked by his cage he reached out to paw at my hair. His paws were sooo fluffly they had tuffs coming out of them. He was very playful, engaging and so gentle I questioned if he still had his claws. He would be up for adoption in 2 days if no one came to claim him, and would be put to sleep in 7 if he didn't get adopted. I went to the admin and put my name on the waiting list.
Two days later, I drove back out there to visit Briar. I took him out for about 15 minutes into the play room and shined the laser around for him. He way wanted to get that thing badly, but I think he was almost a little attention deficit with the funny smells. I'm sure that room had been pee-d all over by other animals. He climbed on all the carpet posts and played with my shoelaces. One thing I remember so clearly was a jump. He leaped from one of the carpeted posts from about three feet. He floated in the air for what seemed like many seconds, his fur followed him in perfect flow, landed on his feet so gracefully, not making a sound, like he was landing on clouds.... poof. It was so cute!
I then scheduled a date for him to be neutered and taken home.
A couple days later, I arrived at the SPCA with a cat carrier. I waited about 15 minutes and a nurse brought him out in his arms. He was really drowsy and could barely walk. The nurse told me to keep him in the carrier when I got home so he could sleep, and that he probably will be frightened and want to stay in there until the sedation wore off. I drove him home and put him in the back room. He was pawing at the wires in the carrier so decided to let him out. He immediate walked out with his head up... back feet still draggin', and explored the WHOLE house. Sweet, this was the day I brought him home.
We were trying to figure out what to call him. We've gotten a few suggestions... Marshmellow Paws, Socks, and even Boots. One day, we were doing laundry and he jumped in the dryer. "Hey rascal get out of the dryer...Dryer, Bryer, Briar". That's how he got his name.