Umbra by Kishore Murthy

Yup! She is a new kinda breed… the ginormous kind

Lucia is her given name but she is lovingly called by many other names like lulu, poopcheetah, luchi-poochi, chi-chi, etc.

My wife Jessica had this cat and another (her daughter, Sabina) for more than 6 years but had to leave them behind when she moved to India to stay with me. Sabina kinda lost it and required animal control to come and get her. She has recovered now and is doing well in foster care.

Lucia suffered abuse while very young and was rescued by the feline foundation. She got pregnant early and gave birth to Sabina. They were put up for adoption. Jessica adopted both of them. With lot of hard work, compassion and love, Jessica was able to get Lucia to trust people again.

I felt very bad that she had to leave them behind when she moved to India. She was very attached to them and they to her. She was heart broken .

One of Jessica’s friend, Deb took Lucia in and took care of her. Lucia, who was big to begin with got even bigger by eating not just her food but also some of the high calorie food meant for the other cat (kitten) that Deb had.

A two year hiatus and back in the US… we take Lucia back. Its been a month and a half now and she has accepted us completely and is comfortable in our home. Though she has never known me, she warmed up to me on day one itself.

She is not bothered by our curious daughter, Anju… ignoring her most of the time. She even lets Anju pet her.

Since I love animals especially cats, I am happy to have this fluffy pillow of a cat following me around trying to get my attention .

She is now on a strict diet, which I think is working as she has lost some weight already. Her favorite pastime is to sit by the sliding glass door and look at the birds.