Name: Shun Li (Chinese: Great peace and joy) Quaalude (English: A sleeping drug) Mao (Chinese: cat)

Nicknames: Shun, Spoon, Shun/Spoon-bug, Bug, Bugnuts, Puddlefoot, Fuzzbag, Furloaf

Age: 5 (?)

Birthday: Unknown

Appearance: Black with green eyes. Shun is polydactyl; an extra toe on each foot, so he has abnormally large feet. He also walks with a limp sometimes.

Favorite foods: Cat food, occasionally tuna.

Favorite toys: Fluffy stuffed mice, trackball, Kamatari (he likes to hold her down and lick her face)

Favorite music: None

Favorite TV station/show: Nature shows

History: I decided Kamatari needed a friend, and found Shun at the Humane Society. Shun was abused in the past; someone pulled his hip out, and he's afraid of any kind of board, rolled up newspaper, etc. He doesn't like men much. He was skittish at first, but after a couple months of being dive-bombed by Kami he grew comfortable. Shun is the most docile, low-key, obedient creature you could imagine.

The stories:

Shun goes to the vet: Shun needed to be front declawed and have his teeth cleaned, so I took him to the vet. He needed to stay two nights, since the second day he chewed his bandages open. Kami shrieked both nights, furious that he was gone. The third day, I went to the office, and was greeted by a new receptionist.

She stared at me and said glumly, "Oh, you're Shun's person."

Me: What's wrong?

Her: Well, I came in this morning and saw him, and took him out to pet him. He was so sweet. I love black cats; I have tons of them on my ranch. I thought he was a stray. I had him named and was ready to call my husband to tell him about the wonderful new cat when Kay (the head vet) told me he had a home. I was so disappointed.

I laughed, and as I was paying, Kay brought out Shun, who was purring and hugging her. She handed him to me and said, "You have to take him home. Nobody has gotten any work done in three days! Everytime we'd pass his kennel he'd purr and reach out to be held. We've spent more time talking to him and hugging him than anything else!"

Everybody loves Spoonbug.

Shun teaches Kami a lesson: Shun finally decided one day that he'd had it with Kami biting him while he was napping. He was lying under the table when she came around the corner at full throttle and launched toward him. Shun rolled over, huge feet tucked up. When she landed, I heard a squawk and saw Kami, curled in a ball, go sailing across the living room and hit the fireplace. Kami staggered off and laid down, and Shun, satisfied, went back to sleep. She never bothered him again.

9/11: When the Twin Towers fell it broke my heart. I sat on the floor and cried for a long time while I watched the news. Kami and Shun sat with me; Kami rolled around and danced to try and make me laugh, and Shun licked my face. Eventually, I stood up and started to go to the computer room. Shun ran in front of me and head-butted my knees, his signal for me to follow him. He walked slowly, glancing back, until we reached the bathroom with the cat stuff in it. He rubbed his nose in the full food bowl, and I told him he'd already been fed and started to leave. He head-butted me again and nosed the bowl itself toward me. The message was clear: Here, have some catfood. You'll feel better. Shun's solution to all the world's ills would be cat food, a belly rub and a long nap.

Shun tries to save some kittens: Kami and I were watching a show on Animal Planet about cats. On the show, a group of kittens had been seperated form their mother and were crying. Shun woke up and began to circle the tv, looking for every possible place those kittens could be. Kami, amused, climbed on top of the TV and watched him walk around. He howled, louder and louder, clearly distressed that he couldn't find them and lick them. If she could roll her eyes, Kami would have; the look on her face was clearly: Damn, you're stupid... It took a long time to calm Shun down.

Shun's mouse: Shun loves large, fluffy mice, especially white and black. We think there must have been a white cat he loved at some point, because he'll sit for hours grooming and cuddling the toy mice, and hates it when they get thrown (or get sucked up in the vacuum cleaner; I had to replace the mouse immediately), but he doesn't care if the toy is grey. Anyway, one night he was curled in my father's lap. He'd groomed the mouse steadily for about 40 minutes, and my father had had enough. He took the mouse and tossed it on the floor. Shun, in a rare display of aggression, folded his ears back and bit my dad firmly on the hand, then, with tail raised in indignantion, jumped to the floor, took the mouse gently and carried it off to be groomed.

Back to me!