How did little Samarra Chai come into our lives? Here’s a little history.

Sammie was born on November 23, 2005 in the LimitedEditions cattery in upstate New York. A purebred, pedigreed Bengal, I am sure she came out with oodles of spots. Apparently (this is all information I have received secondhand, details are hazy) she was purchased to be a companion to a little girl that was an only child.

Come the summer of 2007, and that lil’ companion arrangement was not working out too work. Enter my coworker, Andrew, who was looking for a bengal. He contacted a lady who specializes in bengal rescues, and was put in contact with Sammie’s family. Andrew brought Sammie home… to a wife that did not expect the cat. Soon Andrew had to hurry up and find a home for Sammie, so he started asking around at work. At first no one really showed any interest, including myself… until the next day when the word “bengal” came up.

I was never one for fancy purebred cats. I had some sort of gray Russian blue lookalike feral hybrid as a child that was a polydactyl and weighed in at 30 pounds. I always thought I’d just adopt a cat from a shelter when the time came for a cat in my life again. But something struck me about Sammie when Andrew started talking about her, and I couldn’t wait until lunch time when I could call my fiancee and confirm that I could bring the spotted creature home.

Two days later we drove up to Andrew’s home to pick up Sammie. As Andrew and I entered the room we were met with some growls, angry meows. Okay, so Andrew wasn’t kidding about Sammie NOT being a friendly lap cat. He managed to wrestle her into her carrier, and off she went into my backseat with a 20 pound bag of kitty kibble. She meowed and meowed until we were about halfway home and then sat there quietly, probably just wanting to know where she was going, as this was her third move in a week time span.

We got Sammie home, and introduced her to a laundry room/walk in pantry. Linoleum floors and a lack of things to be destroyed seemed like a good idea, and it was easy to confine her to that room. Being the GREAT cat she is she had no problems using the litter box, and did not do anything naughty, like spraying which I was terrified of. Soon Sammie could not be confined to the pantry, and was allowed to wander the rest of our small apartment.

Sammie did show her rather rude temperament quickly, and still does to a lesser extent. She hates being picked up, held, and touched when she doesn’t want it. Which is probably thanks to her being a “companion” to a little girl… I had a cat when I was young, and I know what little girls do to kitties ;)  She has matured into a very sweet girl, though, and often makes me “biscuits” (kneads), head butts me, and sometimes sits on my lap for a few pets.  Every cat has their quirks, and we have found a way to work with Sammie’s.  Sometimes I wonder what exactly occurred early in her life for her to react this way, and wish I could’ve raised her from a kitten on.

In early 2009, we seriously began discussing bringing another bengal into our household.  We felt that Sammie had settled down enough that such a thing would be possible, and we had moved to a larger apartment that could accomodate two bengals and two humans.  We met with a few breeders at cat shows, but never followed up.  Then in April I was contacted by Laura at PiesCalientes Bengals in Wisconsin about a snow boy they had available to a loving home.  She had read how I was interested in a snow, and felt like we could be a potential match.  After a month of picture exchanges, countless emails, and arrangements, little Ari arrived on May 25th on a big airplane.  He transitioned quick easily and quickly into our home, only spending about 3 days seperated from Sammie before he was ruling the roost.

(Ari when he was still at the breeder)

As I write this in September ‘09, Sammie and Ari grow closer and closer every day.  They often play fight, and enjoy their meals together.  Although not best buddies, we have a peaceful household.  Ari seems to idolize Sammie, and wants to be where she is, eat what she does, and do what she does.  He is the picture perfect, loving bengal and my best buddy!  He enjoys being in the middle of whatever is going on, sitting on laps, being held, and sleeping with his human servants.

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