This is Casey.
We got him in May of '14, so he's nearly three now.
We already had three cats, and no desire whatsoever to have a fourth. Went to the pet store to get food one day, and as we always do, the wife and I stopped to check out the adoption cats. There was this little black kitten in one of the cages. Unbeknownst to me, he was part of a three kitten litter, and shortly before we arrived his two siblings had been adopted, leaving him alone for the first time. So I start petting him, and when I start to walk away, he started crying, so I went back and petted him some more. Well, the sneaky pet store lady saw this. So eventually I go to get the food, and while I'm doing that she takes the kitten out of his cage and brings him up to the register, and they're waiting for me as I approach. The second I dropped the bag of food on the counter, she sits the kitten down, and he immediately runs up my arm and perches himself on my shoulder. "Shit," I said. She got me. After $130 for the adoption fee and the price of a new cat carrier, he was ours. She totally played me, but I don't mind.
He's a great cat. Grew faster than any pet I've ever owned. He was a small kitten in the middle of May, and by the beginning of July he was pretty much fully grown. For a while I thought he was part panther, but he did stop growing soon after that. Unlike our other cats, he still loves people, and at this point I don't think he'll ever grow out of that. Always keeps our guests entertained. Runs down to greet me every night when I get home from work, still sits on my shoulder, although he really doesn't fit.
That $130 was definitely well spent.
