This is Ivan the Terrible (formerly Naveen). He used to live at the Durham Animal Shelter, but now he lives in a house with couches and rugs and piles of clean clothes to sleep on, and many delicious houseplants to eat. He is a big black and white cat with style and personality. He likes to lay in his owner’s lap with his head lolled back, or in a chair, with his paws up on the table. Ivan is a robust mezzo-soprano. His favorite music is jazz and techno, and his favorite food is popcorn. Ivan has learned to sit on command, but has not learned to refrain from attacking other cats as they emerge from the litter box. He likes a good tussle or a pull on the tail, but loves most to run down the uncarpeted hallway full-speed, for which he has earned the nickname “Thundertoes.” In his darker moments, Ivan can be quite the greedy opportunist, and has been known to scratch to get his way, and to eat food from the kitchen counter. But he’s also a cuddler and falls in love very easily, especially with women and backpacks. The best thing about Ivan is that, unlike most cats, he is utterly silly and unselfconscious, and he keeps the stressful humans in the house constantly laughing. He is handsome, full of antics, and all-the-way loved. Thanks, APS Durham! In conclusion, here is Ivan’s favorite quote, by the poet Charles Baudelaire: “It is time to be drunk! So as not to be the martyred slaves of time, be drunk, be continually drunk! On wine, on poetry or on virtue as you wish.”
