Just wanted you to know that Maddox and I are still doing very well.  He has met almost all of my family. He actually slept in the bed with my sister when I stayed with her (he left me on the floor! LOL).  He is okay with my boyfriend; he won't let him pet him, yet, but he is comfortable sitting in the living room with us.  He now sleeps on my hip when I lay on my side.  I think that's the sweetest thing:-)  Also, he gets so that he will fuss at me if I have left him alone for a few hours.  My roomies tell me that I'm in the doghouse.  When I'm gone during the day, I leave my blinds up so that he can look out of the window.  He loves that.  

I took some pics of him doing his favorite thing ever...sleeping!  I managed to get pics of him sleeping on his back.  This is too cute and funny to me!  When he is asleep like that, I know he means business.  He gets really upset if I budge on the bed or stomp too hard on the floor to wake him up.  Also, sometimes at night when I'm lying on my side, he will lay on my hip and go to sleep.  This is as close to holding him that he will let me get.  He is still not a lap cat, but he loves, loves, loves for me to pet him.  If I'm not showing him enough attention, he has no problem starting up his "motor."  For instance, when I'm at my computer, he will rub against my leg and begin howling at me.  As soon as I start petting him along his back and hit the base of his tail, he "goes numb" and collapses onto the floor.  Then, he gets back up and we start all over again.  Also, recently I brought back my large childhood teddy bear, "Gramps" from my parent’s house, and Maddox loves attacking him.  I sit Gramps at Maddox's end of my bed and he will pounce on Gramps countless times throughout the day. 
 
I'm totally okay with Maddox not being a lap kitty.  I know that he adores me.  He follows me around my apartment, watches me cook, he rests next to me on my bed at night when I read, and he watches cartoons with me for a little while.  Once I realized that he will actually watch T.V. for a little while, I found this website called Cattv.com (http://www.cattv.com/catwebsite.htm) that provides little "cartoons" for cats.  Maddox LOVES this!  I leave this on my computer when I'm gone for a little while during the day.  While he won't sit and watch anything for an hour, he will watch for short burst at a time and keep coming back to it.  I usually let him sit on my computer desk when this is on.  I try to find different ways to keep him entertained. 

Maddox has been a huge blessing to me.  I'm really glad that I did not allow those first few weeks to terrify me into not keeping him.  He has proven to be a very affectionate cat with a big personality; he just needed time to trust me.   I'm also very glad that I did let the fact that he is deaf keep me from adopting him.  I can honestly say that if I were to adopt another cat later on, I would want a deaf cat.  Maddox is very calm and reserved; noises don't startle or disturb him.  I do not consider Maddox "handicapped."  Nope, he's perfect, and I wouldn't trade my little critter for the world! 

Shana Campbell