Part I, “Motor” Becomes Max and Has a Home
​​​​​​​Written by MOTOR and his Mommy Adrienne Human Cat-Mommy

Wow…this is hard to start, but I’ll jump in, because really, my Human says that I’m bold and that I jump into a lot of stuff that I should not do. Me? Meow…

OK, my name is Max – Max Allen to be fully informative. If you’re an evolved Human (mine teaches me human language), you can understand cat language. So, everything here was translated by her from “cat” into “human.” It’s just harder to do when she says something in French to me. I get English, and she gets “cat,” but French…..”non.”

I was an orphan and a kind person from NNAH found me by the side of a road in 2011, alone, lost and a little baby. I guess that I was only about three months old. Is that young, like a kitten? “Orphan” – that sounds so sad and scary. Anyway, he took me to NNAH and, well, I lived there for more than a year! I stayed in a little cage in the back, when nice Vet Techs and the Doctors and all weren’t able to take me home. It was noisy, because doggies were barking and other cats were meowing and crying. I wanted a home, even though I didn’t know what that meant. They were so nice to me…but I missed my real catmommy and didn’t know what would happen to me. I was so little.

Dr. Henderson called me “Motor,” because when I did purr, it was really loud. Really? What kind of a name is “Motor?”

In 2012, Dr. Boin sent out an email to, I guess, all of his cat-humans. My Human Mommy was one of them. She came to NNAH one day to meet me. She brought a really big, I mean really BIG, boy cat with her. His name was Peter and he was supposed to pass approval on me as a little brother. I heard that he was a Norwegian Forest Cat, whatever that is, and he was all white.

We all met in one of the little rooms. Peter was out of his carrier and just sort of reclining on the floor. The Human was standing by the table. Dr. Henderson brought me into the room. I was so scared. It was a new Human to meet, a really big stranger cat and I guess I ran around the room a lot, from the table to the floor and back to the cabinet counter-top. The Human looked at me and said, “OK with you, Peter?” Well, he looked bored and kind of annoyed by me….whatever “annoyed” means. He went back into his carrier and the Human put me in her other carrier. I was terrified. What was happening?

We got into something called a “car” and went to the Human’s place. We got out of our carriers, Peter and I. The Human showed me the litter box and then I ran and hid under the bed. She spoke to me in a soft voice, and put the bowls of food and water by the bed. I didn’t come out to look around, except to use the kitty box, for four days. It was new. It was strange. It was really scary. Every now and then the big boy peeked under the bed. Did he want to eat me or scratch me or something? And, there was a girl cat. She’s all black and well, I think that she must be kind of old. So, that’s how I was ‘dopted and found a home. I always say “dopted,” because it makes my Human Mommy laugh.

And, now I’ve been here for almost four years! I like it. I love my Human, and I like to cuddle with her. It took a long time for me to be brave enough to do that. I get to sleep on the bed now and snuggle. When I was still very young, I was pretty much a pain-in-the-neck to Peter. I thought that I could “flip him,” so I used to put my front legs around his neck while he was relaxing and try to turn him over. Geesh…he was so big and tall, and he just got up and walked away. He gave me looks that said, “stop it.” I was only a little over a year old when I was ‘dopted, so I had a lot to learn. A lot….even the old girl cat tried to “put me in my place,” whatever she meant by that. She’s still grumpy and old, and complains about me…I mean a lot!

I guess that it was sad when Peter died in early 2014. The girl cat, Cody, was very sad and hid under the bed for more than a day when she saw his body all stiff. Cody told me that she and Peter were BFF’s, whatever that means. I didn’t understand that he had died. My Human cried, and the neighbor came over, and they cried together. The neighbor was a Cat-Mom, too, with three cats. She would come over every week and bring the two younger ones and we would all run around and have “play dates.” But, she moved and I lost my two new kitty friends.

It was lonely when Peter died, because I couldn’t play with Cody. My Human came home with a new boy cat a month after Peter died. I didn’t know if she was going to send me to a shelter, but she explained that “Bruno” and I would be brothers. He was an orphan, too! He had been living in a cage at a shelter. He was ‘dopted!” Wow…we were best buds by the next day. He’s a little younger than I am, but he’s taller and longer. He’s orange with dark orange stipes. I’m a tuxedo cat – I think that’s very elegant – and my Human sometimes calls me “Chunky-Monkey.” Yeah, I eat too much. Bruno and I play together, and wash each other’s faces and curl up. I LIKE him! Do I like Cody? Well, she’s crabby, so we’re not really buddies. If we chase her, most of the time she can out-run us. Huh? She’s 17 now, and Bruno and I aren’t yet five years old. HOW can she out run us? It must be because she’s really got an attitude about us. She’s totally spoiled and I learned that she was also ‘dopted from NNAH when she was a baby. And, Peter was ‘dopted too, from the scary city pound, a long time ago. He was four years old back then.

OK, this is all for now. I’ll chat with you again, and tell you more about being ‘dopted, and my brother and sister, and comfy furniture and lots of toys. Bye! Meow! I like this life.