Rutherford is gorgeous. He is a big boy with beautiful fur which is tan, black and chocolate brown and he is very fit and solid. He is a chocolate point Siamese Mix with incredible brilliant blue eyes. He is five years old and has been in his current foster home for four years. He was originally brought into a local shelter as an adult stray. He is current on his shots, negative for AIDS/Leukemia, and has been neutered. He gets along great with all my many fosters that have come and gone as well as my own cats all of whom range in age from 2 months to 19 years. My two medium sized dogs don't seem to bother him. They are outside; he is inside, but he spends a lot of time on the screened in back porch and they hang out on the patio next to the screen door and he doesn't seem to care. He is inside only. One of my bedrooms is for the cats only and they have a cat door out to a very large screened porch with climbing poles, litter boxes, food, and large wooden ledges along the screens where they can hang out and watch the dogs and the birds in the backyard.

Rutherford's best friend is Sophie who is a large American Short Hair Tabby. She is also about 5 years old and also very shy around people. I have not been able to win him over and can only sneak in an occasional pet. He has never bitten or scratched me and when cornered and will do everything in his power to get out of your way and still won't try to hurt you. He will hiss at me if I am within a couple of feet of him, but if I look at him and lick my lips and slowly open and close my eyes he will stop and will just stand and look at me.

I would love for him to go to someone that he might bond with and be happy as their pal. I don't know what happened to him before he got to the shelter; he was brought in as an adult stray. If you want to see his pal Sophie you can find her on the Love of Animals Web Site. They actually had their picture taken sitting side by side next to the screens on the back porch, but the photo was separated for their individual pages. I would be willing to take him back if the placement did not work.

It is suggested as with all feline adoptions to keep a new companion indoors for a several weeks so they become familiar with the new surroundings. It is also good to make sure they have a "special" area they can escape to when company comes. This will make both you and your companion have a much better relationship.