The Penguin's Igloo

Back on February 15th 2001 I relocated from Romania to United States for good. It was a difficult journey because I missed my friends and family and couldn’t hang out with them as often as I would have liked. It took only 11 years for my best friend to finally visit me. She came over for the first time on August 2nd 2012 and by that time I already adopted Toby and Aime, my two beautiful and incred

ibly funny cats. On the last day of my best friend’s trip she asked me to take her to a good pet store. She wanted to compare with Romanian pet stores and also buy something for her own cat (Bobocu Thebeautiful). It happened that it was a Saturday and the Petco where I took her had a cat adoption event organized by Heavenly Pets Society for Animals (http://heavenlypets.org/). While we were browsing the store isles all of a sudden we heard a lot of meowing and a lot of ahh and ooh from customers. It was really surreal to see all those little cages with tiny kittens and adult cats looking at us with big shy eyes. My friend looked at all the cats and there he was. Little Jonathan Black caught my friend’s eye. He was all black with white belly, paws and muzzle. He was timid, tiny and incredibly handsome. My friend fell in love instantly with this little guy and she had to go outside because she just couldn’t contain her tears. His vulnerability and innocence impressed my friend to tears. We spent the rest of the day thinking about the little guy and how he looked so precious and vulnerable (by contrast he was named after a famous Canadian hockey player; his foster mom was a big hockey fan and named Jonathan’s siblings after hockey players). What to do now? I couldn’t stop thinking about little Jonathan’s fate? Is he going to be adopted in a good home? Is he going to be loved the way every cat deserves? All kinds of doubts and questions troubled my mind. After my friend went back to Romania and made me promise that I will save Jonathan, I contacted the charity and told them that I decided to adopt him. I was a little worried that he might not be welcomed by Toby and Aime, but what the hell, it doesn’t hurt to try. A wonderful lady from Heavenly Pets Society for Animals visited my place to make sure I have everything that little Jonathan needed. She was a little worried about my impending relocation to London, but she was convinced by my zeal and passion for cats and how my friend and I fell in love with the little guy. After making me promise that I will not abandon Jonathan in case I can’t take him with me to London, she agreed to bring him over the next day. It took Jonathan only a week to become best friends with Toby and by that time his name changed to Jonathan Blacky. Aime was reluctant and became withdrawn. For some reason she was afraid of this playful ball of fluff. Slowly she started coming out from her hiding places, but she never took a liking to Jonathan. I was ok because she at least wasn’t aggressive. A few months later in December 2012 I took all three babies to my parents in Romania in anticipation of my relocation to London. I figured it’s better to have the cats stay with my parents for a few months until I get settled in London instead of boarding them in a pet hotel in Los Angeles. Plus travel regulations wouldn’t allow me to have the cats flying with me from LA straight to London. Instead I should have them fly separately with a cargo flight and keep them in quarantine for at least a month. Not to mention that this was way more expensive and they wouldn’t benefit from my parents love and care. Fast forward to May 2013 I realized that relocation to London will not happen because meanwhile I met my future husband and we both decided to remain in LA. My parents graciously offered to host Toby, Aime and Jonathan Blacky for a few more months until my new husband and I adjust to living together. It was during the time spent at my parents that he got his nickname The Penguin. My mom thought that he looks like a penguin all black and with white belly. She didn’t like Yonatan (that’s her version of Jonathan), so she kept calling him penguin. Of course he became the star of the house. Everybody loved him and how can one not? I mean look at his pictures. How cute and playful he is! I am a sucker for posting pictures of my cats, so I bugged my mom to send me pictures and videos of all three, however only the penguin proved to be a camera lover. My dad nicknamed him Zoro because he looks like he has a mask and he liked to jump in a very acrobatic fashion. Another friend nicknamed him Batman because he looks like a bat hanging from the curtains. My husband and I managed to get all three babies back to LA in September 2014. Whoever says that cats are indifferent to their owner is wrong. All of them remembered me and acted like they never had a year long leave. My mom said that they never looked as happy and relieved to be finally home as they did after they got back to me. There was only one problem: Aime would stay hidden all the time because the Penguin liked to chase and tease her. Our apartment was too small for three cats and with heavy heart we decided to find a loving home for one of them. Toby and Aime grew up together and Aime is emotionally dependent on Toby. It was out of question to separate them. Poor penguin was the obvious choice especially since he was basically still a kitten at heart and our apartment wasn’t enough space for his antics. It took us one month to find a good home for him. Actually the home found us. I have to admit that I was secretly hoping I won’t find a home and then the penguin will have to stay with us, so I didn’t put much effort into looking. Well one of my friends fell in love with him and decided to adopt him. We visit the friend often and of course the penguin is the belle of the house. He is spoiled rotten and his new mom sends me the pictures to prove it. Of course now he has another set of names. Initially they named him Silvester; after a couple of weeks they shortened to Sile and then Silescu (this is Romanization of Sile and it rhymes with Popescu, my last name). Jonathan, the Penguin, Zoro, Batman, Silvester, Sile, Silescu brought so much joy in my life. My friends and I jokingly Facebook checked in to my apartment and we decided to give the place a name. Where do penguins live? At the poles, so obviously it had to be The Penguin’s Igloo. Penguin’s adoption from the wonderful Heavenly Pets charity also inspired me to do more for other orphan cats (and dogs too), so in 2013 (a few months after I adopted him) I founded a non-profit association called Voice For The Needy and I dedicated my free time to raising funds to help stray animals in my hometown Bacau, Romania. But this is another story for another time and page. If you’d like to find out about more about Voice For The Needy, check out www.voicefortheneedy.org

Meanwhile my friends and I will continue to have fun checking in at the Penguin’s Igloo and delight all the fans with pics of the penguin, funny cats and dogs videos and every now and then a plight to save an orphan. All the best to you,
Daniela Popescu