The first time Lauren’s cat, Flash, asked to be held up, she thought it was just a coincidence. As she went to pick him up, the little kitten stretched his front legs up for her, as a human child would.
But then, Flash continued to do it, even as an adult cat. And on days when he had not seen his human mom for a while, he would get up on his tiptoes, practically leaping into her arms.
Flash had been an expressive cat from the beginning. When Lauren first Flash home, he was a big ball of energy. He might have been the runt of his litter, but he did not let his size stop him from roughhousing with his canine siblings.
Even as an adult cat, Flash loved being around the dogs, whether that meant lying with them or playing with them. And of course, he loved being around his human family, too, following Lauren wherever she went.
When he was not asking to be picked up or greeting Lauren when she came home, he had a complete run of the house and went wherever he pleased, hopping over the gate to the upstairs and climbing on any surface he could get to.
The only thing he did not like was being outside. “I think he loves it here,” said Lauren, “and when he feels like he’s not here, for instance, usually if I’m watering the garden, he… just wants back into his home.”
For Lauren, Flash was so much more than a cat. He was a member of the family. “When we got Flash,” said Lauren, “it just kinda felt like he picked us too.”
