CATS! What the Internet is REALLY about... meet Shadow!

You may be thinking "Oh, please!" right now... but it's surprisingly true. 

"Kitten porn" on YouTube is some of the most watched stuff on the web. People's videos of kittens doing cute things end up with five million views in a hurry!

When I post a picture of our kitten-almost-cat Shadow on Facebook, the number of "likes" and comments are usually triple what they are when I post something halfway meaningful and serious.

When I wrote my original introductory post here, I mentioned that Shadow is often my "assistant." 

That's basically cat-speak to say that he follows me around the house and plops himself down in the middle of whatever I am doing.

Some people also commented that they wanted to see more of me... and Shadow. 

So with no further ado, meet Shadow!

Shadow is our little black cat who found his way into our home and hearts last year... in fact, today is probably his first birthday! 

And yes, he's very fond of sleeping in the guest bathroom sink. Seems to be pretty normal cat behavior... several of my previous cats have enjoyed this...

My old cat Kramer had passed away just before Christmas, and we weren't really looking to get another cat. Besides, our fat white kitty-- BeBe-- was quite happy living in the house as "only cat."

But somehow my wife and our daughter found themselves at the local animal shelter in early June 2016. There was a litter of kittens there, but my wife wasn't thrilled because they were all grey tabbies like Kramer had been... and it just seemed "wrong"... or too soon.

But then our daughter noticed there was a little black kitten in the back of the pen. A little black kitten with a naturally stubby tail.

And that was all... 

I've kept cats (or maybe they are keeping ME??) pretty much my entire adult life, but I'd actually not had a black cat around until Shadow came along.

Like all good kittens he got into absolutely everything... earning him the additional nickname "Lucifer" when digging in potted plants, or parading around on the kitchen counter, or diving into the garbage.

Of course, there aren't any truly black cats... all cats are striped. This picture of Shadow in the strong sunlight shows how an otherwise jet black cat actually has stripes.

Once I was past the initial surprise of being presented with a kitten, I took to the little guy... and he, to me. 

All was joy and sunshine for a couple of days... and then he started not doing so well, getting more and more lethargic and not wanting his food. 

A couple of days later we became worried enough to take him to the vet... it turned out he'd brought some kind of kitty virus home with him from the shelter. Even after treatment, he was "barely there" for a couple of days and I was trying to not think about the possibility of losing him so soon... and so soon after having lost another cat.

I had to hand feed him "convalescent food" while he precariously clung to life, and slept most of the time. It seemed like it was touch-and-go for the little guy... 

Thankfully, he made it back to health within a week... and after about a week of regaining his strength in the confines of my wife's home office, he went about exploring the house and getting to know BeBe the cat and our dog. Daisy.

In an interesting turn of events, he became better buddies with the dog because BeBe is pretty much a "cranky old lady" who wasn't amused by being jumped on by a rambunctious kitten... Daisy just took it all in stride, and became an excellent "Kitty Nana." 

As best we can tell, Shadow was born during the first week of March... so we're pretty sure it's his birthday about now.

He's an "almost adult cat" now and is fully integrated into the household. 

He follows me around a lot when I'm home-- often helping me do creative/art things. When I am at the computer writing (like right now) he tends to curl up and go to sleep on the printer.

So that's pretty much Shadow's story, to date. I don't do "cat posts" very often, but I thought I'd share this... because why not, and a bit of posting diversity is a good thing, right?

So DO cats really secretly control the Internet? 

Well, they are pretty much everywhere. 

We get in arguments in forums and someone says "WHATever! Here's a picture of a kitten!" to exit an argument.

And then there's that famous comeback: "The cat is pushing a watermelon out of a lake. Your argument is invalid." used to dismiss completely illogical and irrational arguments.

So there's that...

Cats seem to go everywhere with people, and have, since ancient times. I recently read an article alleging that cats went with the Vikings as they explored the coasts of Greenland, and what eventually became Canada. There was no mention of dogs...

Don't get me wrong... we're not just cat people in this house-- Daisy is the much beloved family dog, and we also have a fish... a pretty special fish (remind me to tell you THAT story, one of these days!) If we didn't have the cats, I'm pretty sure my wife would also keep birds. In fact, that might happen, even so!

So that's the story of a little black cat! Happy Birthday Shadow!

(As always, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise specified and credited. This post is original content, created specifically for Steemit)