Meet Dexter

*This post may contain affiliate links for which I earn commissions.*

Dexter is one of my very best friends. He is a very calm, laid back, and mellow cat. He is one of the most beautiful black cats I have ever seen and is extremely intelligent and super affectionate. Even though he is closing in on 17 he still has playful moments and interacts with me regularly. Dexter is however, a loner and is not too keen on interacting with other cats or dogs or even most other people. This personality trait has made it challenging at times for a house full of rescues, cats, dogs, etc.

To his credit, Dexter is pretty patient and flexible with the other cats. Unless a cat gets in his face or too close in tight quarters he tends to let things slide. It only takes a couple of encounters for any new cats to realize that you don’t MESS with the DEX! Nobody gives him a hard time, not even Oliver. Most cats learn to change course to avoid getting too close to Mr. Dexter.

Dexter is pretty much a one person cat. That person turned out to be me. He tolerates other humans, but with the exception of my grandson Dexter just really wants to hang out with me. That is when he is not napping which is probably his favorite activity these days.

In this picture you see Dexter sleeping with Corbin in the recliner. I know for a fact that Dexter was there first since he NEVER gets on furniture if there is another animal already on it. He will stay put if he was there first and another cat or dog then shows up. Dexter is so chill that even though Corbin hopped in the chair that mimicked a small earthquake, Dexter did not even stir or move.

Dexter’s story is pretty special and unique. My wife and I were just getting work finished up on our barn where we could keep both rescue dogs and cats in air conditioned comfort when we saw on the local news a local dog rescue’s owner had suddenly passed. There were now dozens of dogs left with no one to care for them. The news story mentioned a couple of small dog rescues in the area had stepped up and were doing their best to take these dogs in. They were completely overwhelmed and needed help right away.

We scrambled to get the dog area in the barn completed and headed out to their location the next day. Our plan was to take out extra dog food and then take 5-8 dogs with us and find them homes. When we got there we were shocked by the number of dogs they had and very troubled by the fact that after the story on the news aired not only had nobody showed up to help, but several people had actually dropped off their pets including some cats! This was a dog rescue. They did not work with cats, but still took them in because they were very kind hearted people.

We decided I would take as many cats as we could cram into my car and my wife would take as many dogs as she could get in her van. We ended up with 6 cats and 6 dogs. Just as we were getting ready to go the guy said he thought there still might be a couple cats in the pen please wait while he went to check. He came back with 2 more one of them was a young black cat that would become my newest best friend.

While my wife was tending to the dogs I was with the cats. They were all fairly young, but not really kittens. As you would expect they were quite shell shocked by all the commotion and new temporary home. I was just sitting in the room on the floor trying to see what we had and try to get them a little more calm. After just a few minutes the black cat separated from the group on the other side and came over by me. He settled in the space behind my back and the wall I was leaning against. I thought that was quite exceptional for the situation. Most cats would not be so trusting so soon.

I was not really in the market for another kitty. Dexter seemed pretty cool and certainly caught my eye. My wife mentioned how much he missed me whenever I left the cat room he would go right to the window and watch me leave. Dexter would often hang around the same window watching for me to return. Once I realized this I focused more attention on him and soon realized just how super special he really was.

After a few days I told my wife I wanted to bring him in the house and begin the introduction process. He had a room all to himself while I worked on getting him introduced to the house, the other 12 cats, and our 8 dogs. This was no small task since some of our dogs would chase after strange cats outside even though they were fine with their own cats inside. Dexter was not one of their inside family cats…yet.

I put Dexter in the cat/workout room. Here he had some room to hang out, but not have to worry about the rest of the household right away.

In fact, to this day Dexter will often come hang out with me while I am working out. He likes to participate when it’s possible.

I think he associates this activity with the two of us bonding and getting closer in the early days of our wonderful friendship.

It took me about 2 weeks of gradually carrying Dex around letting him see the other cats and dogs and letting them see him. I would put some of their sleeping blankets in his room and vice versa so that everybody was familiar with each others scent. Dexter was always calm and seemed to understand what I was trying to do. When I though he was ready I brought him out and set him down. I held my breath while the dogs all came over to sniff him. He did not move or freak out as I expected he would. After a few minutes the dogs moved on and then we gradually worked on final integration with the other cats which took a couple more days. It went very smooth considering the large number of family pets we currently had back then.

As time has gone on Dexter has become even more tolerant of some of the other cats.

Dexter seemed to take a rescue kitten Ruxin under his wing. This is new territory for him in his growth and development.

In fact, I think I noticed Dexter being much more tolerant and friendly towards Grayson after Grayson lost his best and only cat friend Monkey. I think Dexter could sense Grayson was so sad and lost. I know Dexter felt that I was very sad and lost too.

I knew Dexter was amazing after the first time I took him to the vet. He did not like the carrier he was in at all. Most cats hate being in a carrier, riding in a car, and then all the noise and smell of the vet with the grand finale of being poked, prodded, and who knows what by the vet and the tech. YUK! Dexter handled the actual vet part just fine. They actually were surprised at how calm and relaxed he was. When we were done I had a hunch so for the first time ever I let a cat out of his carrier to roam in the car. He loved it! He sniffed around and checked it all out and then ended up sitting upright in the backseat looking out the window just like our dogs do!

Dexter is on of the most affection cats I have ever been around. He seeks me out. He talks to me. He likes to get on my chest and knead his paws while purring loudly. He will even lay on his belly so he can drag his face across my chest a few times. Dexter is as enthusiastic about his affection as he is about his play. Sometimes it feels like I am being assaulted by a tiny dog. This lasts just a few minutes before he settles in to just cuddle, nap, or fall asleep on or right next to me. I love those moments.

He is very handsome with his thick, long, black hair with a silver undercoat. This is accented with just a touch of white on the upper chest like a little bow tie. Dexter LOVES to be brushed. I trained him on this early and it has really paid off.

I hope you enjoyed meeting Dexter. He is very special. FYI ANYTHING you hear about black cats, bad luck, evil, etc. is BUNK! They are wonderful cats that color just happens to be black. Unfortunately, black cats and dogs both are usually the last to be adopted at shelters, if they get adopted at all.