It’s always with fear and trembling that we dare to move a new cat into the realm of Her Highness, Pepper.

Like us, these new cats seem to realize that our tortie beauty demands deserves her own space. One after the next, Pepper’s former roommates have inexplicably moved out of Jonathan’s Pepper’s office to become Lobby cats.

The latest of Pepper’s exiles just might be the most comical Community Cat we’ve met in a long time. Meet Milo.

I had the joy of being in Jonathan’s office when Milo first made his debut. Milo is the kind of dude who makes you gasp in delight when you see him. Aside from being startlingly massive – long, not fat – Milo beats out every other cat for the title of Most Incredible Facial Expression At All Times.

Does he look twerked-off? Bemused? Or just like he’s thinking deep thoughts from far, far away on Planet Milo? I’ll leave that judgment to you.

Whatever his funny, darling face suggests, Milo’s personality makes no secret of what he’s feeling. And Milo is feeling phenomenal.

“Loving people” clocks in at #1 on Milo’s list of My Three Favorite Things. Scratch his forehead and he’ll go into something like a rapture, closing his eyes with glee even as his perpetually angry-looking eyebrows furrow. Make your lap available, and Milo will make it his own. Your heart is not safe when you land on Planet Milo – prepare for it to be stolen and never returned.

A close second to “loving people” on Milo’s list would be “rubbing.” Not just rubbing people, not just rubbing furniture - rubbing everything. He’ll rub when he’s happy, he’ll rub when he’s genuinely angry (more on that in a moment), and he’ll rub most of all when he seems confused. Regardless of the circumstances, Milo loves to heave his loooong, strong-looking self into whatever is nearby, rubbing it with all his might. (As you can imagine, this habit made getting a good photo of Milo tres difficil.)

In those first moments of Milo’s move to Jonathan’s office, Milo was very excited…and confused. He rubbed with joy as we took turns petting him. He rubbed with hesitation as he scoped out Pepper. And, weirdest of all, he rubbed with a mighty force, growling all the way, as Ginny bravely gave him subcutaneous fluids. He was the happiest angrycat this human bean has ever seen.

And that leads me to the one Milo quirk I’m not so keen on. Alas, Milo’s oddities don’t end with his wacky personality. His handsome, fluffy body had to get in on the act, too. Milo has disturbingly “quirky” kidneys. The ultrastenographer who got a good look at Milo’s kidneys last month said that they’re about the same size as a Great Dane’s kidneys.

Milo is a big cat…but he’s still slightly smaller than a Great Dane.

Our vet diagnosed Milo and his mammoth kidneys with polycystic kidney disease (PKD). Most common in Persian cats, this condition involves cysts on Milo’s kidneys, and can ultimately lead to kidney failure. Fortunately, Milo has someone to look up to right in the Tabby’s Place family. Curi, a hot-tempered and adorable orange Persian adopted from Tabby’s Place several years ago, has lived with PKD for many years, and continues to flourish. If Milo can follow Curi’s example – and you bet we’ll be doing everything in our power to help him do so – we’ve got a lot of Milo-love yet to come.

And a lot of Milo mini-marathons, too. Our big comedian loves loving people, and he loves rubbing, but a day in the life of Milo isn’t complete without an unprovoked sprint or ten. At utterly unexpected times, for no apparent reason, this boy likes to run. He’ll take off like a madman, eyes wide and wild, careening around corners like Milo Kneivel. And then…he’ll just stop.

What’s going on between Milo’s fluffy ears? Is he confused? Or are things just a little bit quirky on Planet Milo? Only Milo knows for sure. Our part is simply to delight in his goofy, giddy ways and to love him like mad.

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