It’s been just over a year since I adopted Esidisi (“AC/DC” – formerly Crispin, now an anime character). I had spent a few months searching for a barn friend for an unclaimed stray cat who decided to move herself into our barn.

I joined several barn cat Facebook groups and checked a small list of Humane Societies every day. I like to follow my gut, so I was waiting until I felt I had found the one. I love unique, rough-looking animals.
One night around 1 AM, I was browsing again. As soon as I saw him, my heart sank—an angry black owl with shaved eyebrows was staring into my soul. I rushed to Facebook, found the post about him, and knew he was meant to be my cat.

I applied the next morning, and a couple days later we made the hour drive to meet him. The meet-and-greet went exactly as expected—he hissed, lunged, and clearly wanted nothing to do with us. Less than an hour later, I was taking him home.

For the first few months, this guy was MEAN. I had socialized ferals before, but nothing prepared me for his attitude. He never left his cat house, went into attack mode if I got close, and had zero interest in treats, toys, or wet food. Every night I took a flash photo inside his house just to make sure he was still alive.

After a couple months, I gave up on making him people-friendly and let him roam freely with the other barn cat, Polly Pocket (PP). He quickly became attached to her, and luckily, she’s very attached to me.
Not long after, I started seeing him watching me while I worked… then greeting me for food.

One morning I was late bringing breakfast. I heard a meow that definitely wasn’t PP. I turned around and he was sitting by his bowl begging. I dropped everything to feed him and managed to sneak in a quick head pat while he was distracted. I kept sneaking head pats for the next week. Soon after, he and PP were circling my legs like sharks. I realized he finally trusted me.

Within a month, he went from feral menace to 24/7 cuddle monster. He now begs for pets and loves anyone who will give him attention. He’s honestly the sweetest, snuggliest cat I’ve ever met – nothing like the cat I brought home a year ago.

The line in his adoption post that drew me in was:
“…He may never be a social indoor companion.”

Turns out that couldn’t have been more wrong. While he’s great at pest control, he clearly belongs inside where he can lounge, snuggle, and eat all day. I hate seeing him wait for me on the Ring camera.
We’re currently in the process of moving him into the house. I recently trapped another feral cat on our farm, and PP is already obsessed with her, so she’ll still have a barn buddy.

After Esidisi settles inside, we’ll probably adopt another male barn cat. I had such a great experience adopting through HSHV that I’ll likely be back again soon 🙂

Crispin now Esidisi