Written by ©Koko (flickr: Neki Neko).

The day we got Neko was on my 32nd birthday. I came across a local ad looking for good homes for kittens accompanied with a picture of a black, innocent eyed, fluff ball of a kitten looking up at me. It was love at first sight. I contacted a flustered owner. She told me her now neutered house cat had escaped and had come home with a surprise for her and that her house was now chaos with young children and cute kittens.

We arranged to go a see the kittens and I remember standing in the living room, looking into the hall and watching 3 sets of 8 week old kitten legs trying to navigate their way down some stairs. The owner handed me a tiny black kitten to look after while she went to collect the other 3 runaways. In my 32 years this was the first kitten I had ever held and the kitten was Neko. I knew he was the one coming home with me as he climbed up onto my shoulder and gave a tiny rawr.

It has been so much fun watching him grow over the past 6 months and watching him develop into the little hunter cat that he is. His favourite games at the moment are playing hide and pounce, and fetch with one of the degu toys that he regularly steals. I'm so happy that he is part of our lives and can't imagine waking up at 6 in the morning without him sitting and purr-miaowing on me.

Photos courtesy of ©Koko (flickr: Neki Neko).