Chena

Entrant's First Name
Jim and Dawn

Your Pet's Rescue Story
Our rescue kitty, Chena (pronounced chain-uh), picked us 7 years ago! We walked into the shelter, which was a madhouse that day, looking for a few grown kitties we saw online that desperately needed a home quickly. Chena was just inside the door in a cage by himself, as he had just come to the shelter. He caught both of our eyes right away with his adorable kitten charm, even though neither of us said anything yet. He was the most beautiful kitten you could imagine! When we found that the adult kitties we had come to see were no longer there, we both said “Let’s look at that kitten we saw when we first came in, he was so cute.” We took him into a private room for a ‘get-to-know-you’ visit. It was his new ‘Daddy’ that he had to win over and convince that getting a kitten, this kitten, was the thing to do. ‘Mommy’ already wanted one. Chena gave us our first preview of his charming little personality. He climbed up onto ‘Daddy’s’ shoulder with a cute little look on his face and rubbed up against ‘Daddy’s’ face, as if to say, “Can I be your friend?” He was very sweet. So, we said, “OK, he is the one.” As we were waiting in line with him to complete the adoption paperwork, ‘Daddy’ was holding Chena, while ‘Mommy’ got ready for the business side of things. Chena looked him in the eyes with that adorable kitten face and let out a big “Meow!” in his little kitten voice (which is now a BIG, loud big-cat “MEOW!”). ‘Daddy,’ who had still been a little reluctant about adopting a kitten, was hooked. He couldn’t possible say ‘no’ to that face. He said, “OK, put a bow on him and wrap him up, he’s ours!” And so was the beginning of their friendship. He was named after our favorite vacation place in Alaska, the Chena Hot Springs Resort, both because we loved the place, and also because Chena kitten was the color of ‘Mommy’s’ winter Alaska coat, white with a little grey tint. Today, Chena wants to do everything that ‘Daddy’ does, like workout & stretch (only if no one else is watching), eat ice cream with whipped cream, munch on CHEESE, and (lovingly) tease “The Mommy.’ He is pretty much the cat version of ‘Daddy.’ Chena and ‘Mommy’ have a love-hate sort of relationship. Chena loves to chase and play-attack ‘Mommy’ like she is prey. He also enjoys his ‘Mommy’ hugs and pets when no one is watching, follows her around, and loves to ‘chat’ with her non-stop. He is known for his unique meows, such as the ‘triple-trailing’ meow, his ‘whining’ meow, and the ‘uh-oh’ meow. He has both an angel and the little devil inside him, which makes him a unique and interesting little buddy. We love you, ‘little man.’