Haku is the name of a boy who turns into a beautiful, Eastern-style serpentine dragon with silver-white scales and a seafoam green mane. The dragon boy is brave, kind, strong, and assertive. He is the deuteragonist of the animated film, Spirited Away, the first, and to date only, hand-drawn and non-English-language animated film to win an Academy Award.
And I named my cowardly, anxious, skinny tabby cat after him.
Haku–the cat–was about seven months old when I adopted him in December 2021. I went to a cat adoption event by Save the Meow Meows, a non-profit rescue for cats and kittens in Los Angeles. The event was held in an art gallery, curiously, but it was very LA, I guess–quirky, unnecessarily unconventional. Because it was later in the day, only seven or eight cats were left in the kennels for adoption viewing.
I made my rounds, dodging a couple kids excited over these tiny kittens–very adorable–and a couple older cats who were sleeping or clearly over it. I couldn’t blame them; if I were them, in cages with fingers constantly poking in to touch me or hands reaching in to pick me up, I’d be over it too. I came to the cage at the end of the table, where a cat was curled up and underneath the cushion, looking like I felt on Sundays at Costco–overstimulated by all the people and wanting to be anywhere but there.
I asked one of the staff members what his name was and a little about him. They told me his name was Dom–which gave me the ick (no offense to the Doms of the world) because it’s not the vibe for a cat–and that he was very sweet and cuddly, smart, and he loved food.
I stared at… Dom… as the staff member talked, trying to connect what was being said with what I was seeing. Dom did everything he could but look at me, tucking his little face into himself.
The kids and families weren’t too interested in Dom, as he wasn’t as fluffy as the kittens or as outgoing as some of the older cats. One lady thought he was beautiful, with his cinnamon swirl and striped coat, but she was still on the fence about him.
In my head, I was ready to pass on him. I’d never had a cat before, but I’d had a dog, which I raised from a puppy to adulthood. Puppies are cute, but puppies are also tough. They’re a lot of work, time, and energy. I went in knowing I wanted an older cat to avoid a repeat experience. At seven months, Dom was barely out of kittenhood. I also knew I wanted a cat that was confident, outgoing, and friendly. The dog I’d raised unfortunately grew up to be anxious, standoffish, and dependent, and I wanted the opposite of that. I wanted a low effort cat that got along well with everyone–people, other cats, and maybe other dogs, even.
Then the staff member handed me a Churu tube, a pureed meat tube in the chicken flavor (yum), and everything changed.
I opened the cage, and Dom came to my hand immediately. He started licking at the tube, and when it was finished, he purred, butting my hand with his head and letting me pet him. It was love at first Churu tube, I guess.
I took him home the same day.
That first day home was tough, as Haku’s anxiety and fear were still present. Haku’d gotten out of a longish car ride from the art gallery to the place I was staying at at the time, which I’m sure he wasn’t happy about. I got him up to my room, which he’d be limited to for the first week to prevent him from becoming overwhelmed, before introducing him to the rest of the house.
When I opened the carrier, he tried to make a break for the dark, underneath places to hide, like under my dresser and bed. I’d done my research, however, and had blocked those spaces with cardboard boxes, books, and other items to fill up the area. Haku resorted to slinking around, ducking his head at loud noises and retreating back into the carrier when he realized he had nowhere to hide. He avoided me, retreating from any attempts at pets or touch.
I was a little worried at this point, but all research told me that this was normal behavior as cats hate change, especially sudden ones. And a new owner and a new home would most likely be the biggest changes in his (fingers-crossed) long life.
Come lunchtime, once I brought out the canned cat food, however, Haku was all cuddles. The key to his heart is food, and honestly, same. He warmed up straightaway after that. It took a couple days for him to fully mellow out, to stop trying to hide at the sound of my roommates outside my bedroom door, but he got there. After the week was up, I let him explore parts of the house, section by section, and he got to meet his sister, my sister’s cat, Mimi.
Earlier this year, we moved from LA county to an apartment here in Ventura county. Haku did not enjoy this process, and it took two solid weeks for him to get used to all the new sounds in an apartment complex. He’d been spoiled because prior to this we’d lived in houses, where noise from neighbors was minimal. He had to get used to all the kids laughing and screaming as they splash around in the pool right outside, the party music that plays during the weekends, the smells and sounds that filter in if I open a particular window. When the doorbell rings, he makes a break for it and runs into the bedroom, which is hilarious, because if I weren’t a human adult who needed to be responsible and also a friendly neighbor, I’d do the same.
So Haku the cat, unlike his dragon namesake, isn’t exactly brave or strong.
But that’s okay–he has other strengths.
He’s really smart. And I’m not just saying that because I’m his mom. He has a puzzle toy that you hide treats in, and in order to get the treats, the cat has to move knobs and a wheel around. He figured that thing out in the first ten minutes of owning it. And the toy was labeled advanced difficulty! Either he’s a genius or the toy’s creators need to reevaluate their difficulty system.
I’ve also taught him three tricks so far: sit, spin, and shake. We’re going for down and roll over eventually.
Haku’s also super cuddly. The Save the Meow Meows staff member hadn’t been lying. Once he gets to know you, he loves you. It also may have to do with the fact that he’s a male cat, and the internet says that they’re more affectionate than female cats. Certainly, anecdotal evidence from experience with my sister and brother-in-law’s female cats point toward that being true. They will literally leave the room sometimes if you enter it and they’re not feeling you. And honestly, I can respect that. I also want to leave rooms when people I’m not vibing with enter them.
Meanwhile, I can’t get this dude to leave me alone. Haku follows me around like he’ll die if I’m not in his line of sight. He stretches out on my bed and watches me do my makeup in the mornings as I get ready for work. He naps next to me on the couch while I decompress from work by playing Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom or some cozy game like Bear & Breakfast on my Nintendo Switch.
So even though I originally wanted a brave, independent cat and tried to manifest that by choosing the name Haku, I think the universe gave me the cat I needed rather than the one I envisioned for myself; I think a lot of life’s like that. You go in thinking you want one thing but life gives you something else, something that turns out to be better for you, in the end.
Haku has been a boon for my mental health, especially coming out of the COVID lockdowns and pandemic struggles. His affectionate personality, seemingly endless energy, and cute face are lovely things to come home to at the end of a long work day. I’m grateful that he’s mine and I’m his.
Do you have a pet of your own to come home to after a long day? What’s their name? Are they everything you wanted or envisioned having, or are they something completely different?