Fluff was just a little baby when I first met her at the shelter in the summer of 2009.
Although she's 4 months old in this picture, she looks so little!
Wuzzy always sat in my lap while I played with the kittens while volunteering, and her sweet personality grew on me. Months passed and she got bigger. Most of her littermates and roommates were adopted, but poor Wuzzy remained. Eventually, in November, I convinced my parents we needed another cat. She was almost 8 months old when we took her home, a "teenager" in the shelter's words. By then, she'd outgrown her awkward kitten phase and wasn't quite as scruffy looking, but she was still scrawny.
Several days after adoption, already taking over the house
We had a great debate over her name. I thought up some clever and adorable names, but my dad wanted to call her "Fluffy". Seriously, how cliche is that?! Even my grandma laughed and said "Gee, that's original", and my grandma is not usually one for sarcasm! But it stuck, although we appended the "butt". Dad insists her given name is "Fluffy" and her nickname is "Fluffybutt", but I consider it the other way around. She has a vast amount of nicknames, including "Fuzzbucket" and "The Fluff Master". The shelter people just roll their eyes at me when I mention her new name, and continue to call her Wuzzy ;)
Fluffy now, showing off her secret belly spots!
Now she's a year and a half old, so she's fully grown and has a full fluffy coat, complete with a lion's mane. She's quite a large cat, body-wise she rivals our male cats, and has a graceful, exotic air to her. She also has enough personality for two! I'm so glad I brought her home :)