Most cats go bolting at the first sight of water, but not two-year-old Lucky. Adopted from a Best Friends Pet SuperCentre over a year ago, Lucky has kept his new owners in fits of laughter with his antics, which includes positioning himself underneath the shower and waiting expectantly for them to turn it directly on him.

“It can get pretty bizarre in my household at times!” Lucky’s owner Jill laughed. “He’s just a really fun cat. When my daughter has friends over, they love playing with him so he often ends up in the doll’s pram! He’s really good with kids, so easy-going.”

Jill, her partner and their daughter Joanna weren’t looking to adopt a cat the day they walked into the Maribyrnong store 15 months ago – in fact, they were only there to buy food for their goldfish! But when they spotted the cats’ enclosure, they couldn’t resist taking a quick peek and that’s when they first laid eyes on Lucky.

“He was in there with another cat, but for some reason, Lucky really stood out to us,” Jill said. “He just seemed so sweet and relaxed. But we didn’t give it much thought at the time, because we didn’t go in with the intention of adopting a cat.”

However once the family were home, it soon became clear that they had all caught Lucky fever!

“We kept saying to each other, ‘Oh he was so nice, wasn’t he?’” Jill said. “We really liked him but we wanted to be sure he was right for our family, so after thinking about it for a week, we went back in to Best Friends to ask some more questions.”

The family had always said if they adopted a cat, it would be an adult and would come from a shelter. When they heard how Best Friends Pet SuperCentres acts as a satellite adoption centre for cats and kittens from The Lost Dogs’ Home, that really sealed the deal for Lucky.

“We wanted to adopt; we didn’t want to go through your typical pet shop,” Jill said. “So we thought it was great that Best Friends have the adoption program. We were really impressed with the whole experience, especially because they seemed to really know each cat’s personality and could tell us whether Lucky would be suitable to us. They were very helpful.”

Staff at Best Friends told the family how Lucky had been up for adoption at another store for quite some time before he was moved to the Maribyrnong store.

“Luckily for us!” Jill said. “It all seemed to work out just right, because Best Friends said they normally only have kittens but Lucky was six-months-old, which suited us perfectly. It was quite coincidental that he ended up at our local store.”

Another box Lucky ticked for the family was the fact that he had been raised as an indoor cat. Jill said there are quite a few cats living in their street and they didn’t want a cat that would run off with them all the time.

“Lucky seems perfectly content to spend all his time indoors,” Jill said. “And our vet said it was probably a good idea, given his colouring. He’s nice and white and we want to keep him that way!”

While not a lap cat, Lucky is very affectionate with his owners and loves to rub himself up against them and receive pats.

“He’s pretty endearing and lots of fun to have around,” Jill said.