Tess Porter, Muzzy & Amos
Tess & Muzzy in the studio
For most of my life, I considered myself exclusively a dog person—but honestly, I think that was because I had essentially no exposure to cats growing up. It wasn’t until a couple close friends of mine adopted their cats in 2019 that I started to change my mind.
I adopted Muzzy in the summer of 2020. I was finally living on my own for the first time and, like a lot of people who shifted to working from home that year, felt like I had the time to bring a new friend into my life. I originally went to the shelter hoping to meet a kitten I saw online, but after some advice from the shelter volunteers, I met some of the adult cats instead. None of them felt like the right fit—until they finally introduced me to Muzzy. An orange tabby with torn and clipped ears. Estimated to be around 8-10 years old. FIV+.
We clicked right away, and I knew that this sweet senior was the one. As I was filling out his adoption paperwork, the agency called in the woman who originally brought him into the shelter. We met, and she explained to me that she had found him with a feral colony outside of an apartment complex in Virginia. He was so sweet then, too, and clearly wasn’t meant to be an outdoor cat. He had contracted FIV, lost most of his teeth, and his friendliness wasn’t being returned by the complex residents. He needed a home.
My sisters and I describe Muzzy as a sweet senior baby. He adores attention—pets, lap-sitting, hugs, and kisses—and isn’t afraid to meow until he gets it. He’s confident and loves meeting new people. Playing with toys was a foreign concept to him when I adopted him, but with a lot of reassurance, he’s grown to love it. His favorite is a ball track toy that he’s become pretty talented at punting the ball back to me. I often find him sitting on his behind like a human, legs akimbo, with his tongue sticking out. He’s very emotionally sensitive, comforting me and my friends through losses. He snuggles up with me every night, and he purrs like a lawnmower. I feel so incredibly lucky to have met him.
“I often find them looking out the window together, grooming each other, or—most recently—snuggling.”
When I moved to Brooklyn in the summer of 2021, it started to feel like Muzzy needed a friend. When we weren’t spending time together, he wasn’t doing any of the things he used to do independently to have fun, and he started sleeping more and more. He seemed bored—and lonely.
After a lot of searching online, I found Amos, who was estimated to be around 2 years old at the time. I remember the first picture I saw of him—white and orange with a crumpled ear, he looked so dirty, sad, and scared. He was found as a stray and, like Muzzy, was also FIV+. He also needed a good home.
In the beginning, Amos was very standoffish, nervous about pets, but very, very curious. Anytime I opened a new cupboard, he was there to peek into it with me. I’d frequently find him on top of the fridge. After a lot of patience and love, he’s settled into a comfortable, chaotic goofball. He loves running laps around my small apartment, playing with kicker toys, and, when he’s tired out, taking naps on his back with his legs and arms curled up in the air. He loves to stretch out and lounge, especially on a ledge I’ve built in front of my window overlooking the street. He refuses to lay on laps, but he loves cuddling next to people, with his paws pressing against them. He’s started to love chest and belly rubs. It is such a joy to see him feel so safe. And, I’m sure that he’ll eventually start feeling more confident in new spaces (which is why he wasn’t able to come with us to the studio shoot!).
Amos and Muzzy took a while to become friends. Like it took me a while to introduce Muzzy to playing with toys, it has also taken him a while to become comfortable playing with another cat—especially one as energetic as Amos. And Amos, being a young stray, needed some time to learn when to back off of playing when another cat isn’t having fun. Over the last few months, though, they’ve finally started to become really close. I often find them looking out the window together, grooming each other, or—most recently—snuggling. They are both such sweethearts, and I am so thankful that they have fun together, and that I have them both in my life.
Tess Porter is a museum educator and technologist living in Brooklyn, NY. When she’s not obsessing over her cats, she loves exploring the outdoors, finding new ways to live out her sci-fi dreams, and creating slightly-successful crafts.