We’ve already established that you don’t mess with Tex.

Apparently, you don’t make him wait very long for an adopter, either. It hasn’t even been a month since Tex moseyed into a Tabby’s Place suite, and he’s already the king of his own ranch, er, forever home.

Yes, our big, brash, surprisingly-bashful pardner has been adopted!

MC, faithful Tabby’s Place volunteer and dad to our alumnus Petey, was taken with Tex from the first time their eyes met. Even a mega-bite from Tex’s choppers into MC’s hand couldn’t shake the hulking grey-and-white fellow from MC’s heart.

Enchanted by the cat who looked eerily like his Petey (pictured at right), MC quietly, seriously followed Tex’s Tabby’s Place trails. Since he had lived outdoors shortly before coming to Tabby’s Place, Tex had to have a longer quarantine period than most. It would be 60 days in a cage before we could be confident that Tex was free of FIV, FeLV and other ickies we wouldn’t want him sharing with our other residents.

So, MC waited. And watched. And visited Petey’s Texan lookalike - often.

When Tex triumphantly cleared from Quarantine and made the move to Suite B, MC was interested to see how the big guy would interact with his roomies. As you’ll recall, we were all quite surprised that the huge-as-Houston cat with the massive ego was as shaky as a tumbleweed in the presence of his feline suitemates.

That much hasn’t changed in the last few weeks, either. In fact, Tex essentially made a large crate his permanent residence in Suite B, snubbing the spacious freedom of cage-free life for the secure confines of his self-imposed prison. (He probably would have preferred it even more if we closed the door, so he wouldn’t even have to think about another cat approaching.) Most of the Suite B cats love to ramble from cubby to ramp to solarium to window, but Tex was the one feline we could always find in the same place: his crate.

Last week, MC made his announcement: he was sure, he was ready, and he was opening his life and home to Tex. Today, that pledge became a reality as Tex went home sweet forever home.

According to MC, Petey and his sister Nola aren’t yet aware of their colossal new brother. Safe and secure in his own “safe room,” where he’ll stay until it’s time to meet the other two kitties, Tex is settling in with MC tonight. I often wonder if the cats realize when they’ve finished bouncing around and reached their true home, once and for all.

I think they do.

I think there will be something about MC’s reassuring voice, something about the way he looks at Tex, that tells Tex he’s reached the last stop on this long, bumpy train. Somehow Tex will get the message: he’s home. He’s wanted. He’s been chosen. And he never has to be uprooted, reorient his entire world, and try to figure out if he can trust again.

MC knows Tex and cats enough to know that the big, timid boy with the huge gold eyes is going to need some time and patience to realize just how good he’s got it. Once Tex meets Nola and his doppelganger Petey, it’s going to be another slow, oh-so-worth-it transition.

But, I predict we’ll be enjoying photos of these two beloved gray-and-white guys living it up together. And I couldn’t be happier that there’s a home – already – for the cat with the heart and head as big as the Western sky.

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