Hello everyone. This is Athena, she's 13 years old. I got her when she was about 10 weeks old from an animal shelter. I don't really know what made me choose her among all the other cats, but I remember picking her straight away. I've always like cats, though I spent my childhood being allergic to them, which I seem to have thankfully outgrown. She looks completely black mostly, but has a reddish tinge in certain lights, like the photo below.
When she was a kitten I made the mistake of playing with her once by moving my hand under the bed sheets and letting out pounce and chase it. Stupid, stupid idea.
For weeks after that I'd get woken up by her pouncing and digging her claws into my legs. I ended up sleeping in jeans for a while, which helped a little, but not a lot. I did finally get her to stop.
She's an indoor/outdoor cat, as in she has access to go outside anytime she wants, though she spends most of her time indoors, especially as she's gotten older.
She has always been a timid cat, never letting strangers see her if she can help it. I usually go away overseas for 4-5 weeks a year, and I get someone to come in and look after her. The first couple of times they never see her the entire time. I just get messages saying they haven't seen her, but the food is disappearing. And then after the second or third trip, I get an excited message saying they saw her and got to pet her. I always find it rather amusing the reactions I get from people when they finally get to see her. Once she accepts someone, she's very affectionate.
She's pretty much always around me at home. Sleeping nearby or in my lap when I'm on the computer, or when I'm in the kitchen or garden she'll be laying somewhere nearby in sight. And she almost always sleeps on my legs at night, or on the corner of the bed if it's really hot.
She did disappear once a number of years ago (maybe 8? not sure). I kept leaving food out and it wasn't until about 3 months later I heard something eating it and there she was, all skin and bones. I don't think she let out of her sight for weeks after that. I never found out what happened to her, but she doesn't seem to have suffered any healths problems from it.
When she was a kitten I made the mistake of playing with her once by moving my hand under the bed sheets and letting out pounce and chase it. Stupid, stupid idea.
For weeks after that I'd get woken up by her pouncing and digging her claws into my legs. I ended up sleeping in jeans for a while, which helped a little, but not a lot. I did finally get her to stop.
She's an indoor/outdoor cat, as in she has access to go outside anytime she wants, though she spends most of her time indoors, especially as she's gotten older.
She has always been a timid cat, never letting strangers see her if she can help it. I usually go away overseas for 4-5 weeks a year, and I get someone to come in and look after her. The first couple of times they never see her the entire time. I just get messages saying they haven't seen her, but the food is disappearing. And then after the second or third trip, I get an excited message saying they saw her and got to pet her. I always find it rather amusing the reactions I get from people when they finally get to see her. Once she accepts someone, she's very affectionate.
She's pretty much always around me at home. Sleeping nearby or in my lap when I'm on the computer, or when I'm in the kitchen or garden she'll be laying somewhere nearby in sight. And she almost always sleeps on my legs at night, or on the corner of the bed if it's really hot.
She did disappear once a number of years ago (maybe 8? not sure). I kept leaving food out and it wasn't until about 3 months later I heard something eating it and there she was, all skin and bones. I don't think she let out of her sight for weeks after that. I never found out what happened to her, but she doesn't seem to have suffered any healths problems from it.
