Arrr Im a Pirate posted:

This is my cat and best friend, Napoleon.



She found me while I was living in the mountains of Mongolia as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I was collecting a bundle of firewood for the evening when a tiny furball dashed inside. I wasn't sure if she was a mouse or whatever at the time, but when I sat down she hopped on my lap right away to say hello. I wasn't really looking to get attached to a pet at the time, but she was still a kitten then and it was hard to throw her outside where she would likely freeze to death or get eaten by dogs or birds of prey.



She made herself comfortable and right at home pretty quickly.

We live in what's called a ger:


And it was cat heaven for her. She would run around the yard, get into fights with the neighborhood cats, hang out on the roof of our house, and catch lots mice and birds.

1

In truth I was as lucky to find her as she was to find me. Mongolians don't really care for cats at all, and black cats are especially bad. Living alone in a small town in Mongolia was really lonely sometimes though, so it was really nice to have the company. It's also darn cold (-30F - -40F at night) so we would keep each other warm at night under the covers.

I'm so ridiculously attached to this animal for all we've been through. I'm lucky she's still with me. I had a cousin of a Mongolian friend bring her to the capital city when I couldn't come get her myself, and she survived a really, really tough ordeal. She could have easily died of thirst or heat exhaustion because of other people's carelessness. I still have pangs of guilt when I think about it.

Now she's living the easy life with me in the capital city, Ulaanbaatar, as I'm now a reporter corresponding from there. She's strictly an in-door, apartment cat, and she's gained a bit of weight for it, but she's still a really cool and fun animal.

(living the good life)