Along into our hearts came Bo. As if four cats were not enough. Many times people asked us, "Are you going to get more cats?" Many times we answered, "Not until we get a bigger apartment or a house." I should have known that forces were conspiring to change my mind.

Since my volunteer work with C.A.T. took me into the shelter on a frequent basis, I was often left wishing I could take more of the cats home with me. Especially Bo. She was always the most curious and inquisitive one at the door of the free-roam room at the shelter. She was one of the oldest residents of the shelter, having been adopted and returned at least twice before. She had been returned for having an unsettled personality and an inquisitive nature that often got her in trouble. So much of her life had been spent in the shelter, watching people come and go. It caught my attention.

Sterling kept saying we could handle more cats. The rule of thumb I had always thought best to use was two cats per room. Admittedly, our two-bedroom apartment had more than two rooms, so by that rule, we had room to spare. On the other hand my practical side had to admit that the current four were greedy and selfish when it came to their personal space.

And besides which, the bathroom was already packed with four jumbo litterboxes. I did not want to add to an already big cleaning duty. However, one day my husband said, "Take one of them out, and see if three litter boxes is enough for four cats. If it is, then you know four is enough for more cats." Well I did, and he was right, so the next part was to convince him that Bo should be the next cat.

In due time I brought him to the shelter to meet her. She was sweet and attentive. We went home to think about it. Then came the weekend of my birthday. I had just gotten a big profit sharing chunk on my paycheck, and he had gotten his first profit sharing. It was time to commit. So we went to the shelter and we brought Bo home. Then we learned about her true personality.

At the time we picked her up she was not so pleasant. A new rambunctious kitten had been introduced to the back room that very day and was making her very antsy. She actually bit me when I tried to comfort her. But we attributed it to nervousness. We found out otherwise at home. She did not acclimate well with the other cats, and to this day prefers to avoid them, hissing if they come too near. She still bites when displeased, and can be easily startled.

Surprisingly, though, she combines this wariness and skittishness with an intense need for attention. She constantly jumps up wanting to be held, and as long as you don't move much, she'll let you hold her for a long time. This attention is rewarded often with a wonderful purr and an occasional lick. And she'll surprise us with a playful side that can be quite fun.

The years are passing now, and she's slowly calming down. We've quieted down our routine, making sure to move naturally around her, with no sudden movements. We comfort her gently with a small caress when she gets uptight around the other cats. We now catch them sniffing at each other and more often walking away rather than fighting. Although she will probably never be great friends with any of the other cats, we can see her warming to Jackie Chan, and possibly Kenda, the most calm cat of them all. It's become a quest to win her trust, but it's slowly being rewarded by her friendly meow when we come home.