The story of Jules is also the story of my Maine Coon, Alexandre Dumas. The day before Christmas in 2013, I was driving and my eye caught this pathetic little creature on the pavement. I went around the corner and stopped, calling out to him. He immediately came over. He was all skin and bones. I picked him up and he was calm, so I took him home. Once home I fed him and started to clean him up. He was covered in ticks.
Since I already had a cat, I was not looking to add to the household. I had two cats before and they were constantly fighting. Alex came by and gave him a look, but I told him: don't worry I will find a home for him.
Alex would come to the door of the room I kept Jules and talked to him. Jules was very nervous and would hiss and back up under furniture. I again told Alex that this is his home and we will only keep the cat if he wants him to stay.
It took Alex only three days to make friends with Jules! He also decided that the cat is his cat and not mine.
We named him Jules Verne (because when I wanted to see his sex, he had his jewels). In the beginning Jules would not leave the house even if the door was open. After six months he started following Alex like a little brother around the garden. They would play games of tag or wrestling in the house. Half the time Jules is the one jumping on Alex to start a play fight. Jules had some trust issues but slowly he would come and climb on our laps. To this day I cannot carry him at all, so the day I picked him up he must have been so low, that he just gave over.
Pretoria, South Africa
