One morning in 2005, Matt Mitchell and his roommate were preparing breakfast in the little cabin they were renting while attending college on a lake in Michigan when they abruptly heard meowing coming from the back deck. When Mitchell went to peer into it, he saw a little, frail cat staring back at him and begging for food and some affection.
Mitchell told The Dodo, “She literally simply showed up on my doorstep my final year of college. “I believe she was a lost or abandoned animal. She has not left since I fed her!
The roommates decided to name the kitten Spritzer, and officially adopted her into their home. When they first found her, she was so small and easygoing, and thought nothing of being carried around everywhere. Since they lived on a lake, Mitchell and his roommate had a small motorboat, and later a pontoon, that they liked to drive around in, and they began bringing Spritzer along with them.
The little cat was completely unfazed by the boat trips and mostly napped or played with whatever she could find rolling around on the floor.
Mitchell also enjoyed kayaking, but never thought of bringing Spritzer along with him on those adventures — until one day, she invited herself along.
I left something at home while out on the pontoon with some friends, so I paddled back in the kayak, Mitchell said. She approached the dock as I was leaving and meowed until I went around and snatched her up. She probably even stumbled and fell the first time, but it didn’t deter her!
From that moment on, Spritzer has absolutely loved kayaking, and now rides along with her dad almost every single time he goes.
“[She comes] just about every time I go, which is usually a few nights per week,” Mitchell said. “It’s always her call, though; if she doesn’t want to go, I leave her at home. Sometimes I have to go paddle around like I’m going ‘without’ her, and then she suddenly becomes interested.”
Even if kayaks aren’t particularly large, Spritzer usually manages to keep busy.
She enjoys taking naps while entertaining her dad by doing loops around the little boat and simply relaxing and soaking in the scenery.
She wanders around the boat quite a bit, Mitchell remarked, starting with her blanket on the bow, moving to the sides, drinking from the water, and then cuddling on my lap.
“Since she usually boards herself, I believe she actually likes it. There are very few times when I want her to go but she doesn’t want to. typical feline She is a bit of a pampered little princess but otherwise quiet and really loving in the water.
Even at the age of 13, Spritzer still enjoys being on the water as much as she did when she was a kitten. She loves getting to spend so much time with her dad, and has no plans to stop kayaking anytime soon.
